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World's oldest mum: Indian woman, 72, has twins to fulfill desire for male child


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Omkari Panwar, 72, already a mother of two and grandmother of four, gave birth to twins making her the world's oldest mother. It emerged that the reason for her decision to try for another child was the overwhelming desire for a son, which was finally fulfilled with the help of in vitro fertilization.

The twins, a boy and a girl, were delivered by an emergency Caesarean section in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday. The father of the twins, 75-year-old Charam Singh, told ABC News he was very happy, but was reluctant to give more information as he feared a negative public reaction to his wife's decision to give birth despite her age.

The couple used their life savings and took out an additional loan to pay for the expensive medical procedures. Panwar had such great difficulties during her pregnancy that her husband was concerned for her life. When she arrived in hospital, she was in serious condition and needed a blood transfusion. Although the babies were born a month too early and had a low birth weight, they are doing well.

Male children are of extreme importance in Indian society, especially in rural areas. It is common to abort female children, often because of the expenses associated with the dowry system, which is still practised across India despite it being officially banned. In some Indian states, parents are even eligible for financial support if they are willing to raise a daughter.
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7 responses // World's oldest mum: Indian woman, 72, has twins to fulfill desire for male child

  • This is wrong.....regardless of your culture this is wrong. Most likely she wil ldie before these children reach 10 and to me that is just irresponsible.
    SilenceNoMore
  • WOW!.. I wonder how she is going to feel when her newly born son calls her great-grandma instead of mum!...
    msheth87
  • very wrong
    shroomfairy
  • From a cultural perspective, I can see why she did this and I assume her children will take care of her twins after she dies. In Indian culture everyone takes care of your child but the child is the parent's responsibility financially and as diciplinarian.
    Bood
  • Good point, Bood. If you lived in a community where raising a child is not exclusively the parent's responsibility and have older children that are willing to take over once you die, it would not be as outrageous to have a child that late in life. However, I really think it is shocking to see that the desire for a male heir can be so intense that the woman would risk her own life just to give birth to a son. I also wonder how the couple will cope financially since it says in the article that the father was a farmer and they had to use all their savings and take out an additional loan to be able to afford IVF.
    JanaPokana
  • this is wrong... wrong wrong wrong
    kewal91
  • this is very interesting...if this makes the family happy im happy for them! Im sure they know the hardship of raising a child and are fully aware of there ages! With children and grandchildren im sure the babies will have alot of love within them!!
    Azucena

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