A Kiwi woman who made history by giving birth at 64 years old says she was inspired to become a mum again when her eldest daughter got pregnant.
The unnamed woman told the New Zealand Herald despite the risks of giving birth at her age, it was worth it - and her healthy baby was born in October at Auckland City Hospital.
The previous record for oldest Kiwi mum is believed to be 56.
"My daughter had already persuaded me out of this in 2015 and I thought, 'Well, it's not their life,' and I didn't want anyone to say anything that would put me off," the retired woman told the Herald.
Fertility clinics here and in Australia reportedly refused to treat her, so the conception happened in Georgia - a former Soviet state in the Caucasus region. She got pregnant on the first attempt, just in time before European and Asian nations began closing their borders as COVID-19 arrived.
She made it back to New Zealand in time for the first lockdown, where her family - who believed she was on a ski holiday - worked out what was really going on.
"There were all these strange things like reducing the size of my coffee and having syringes in my drawer and little bruises on my tummy from anticoagulant injections and Facebook posts about trying to transfer 6000 euros and how difficult it was. By the time I got home they were putting it all together."
Despite the potential complications, her 3.3kg baby was born in October in great health. Her doctor is now reportedly happy to give her more IVF treatment if she wants to have another.
The world's oldest mother was 74-year-old Erramatti Mangamma of India, who had twins by Caesarean in 2019.
