Indian 'is world's oldest mother'

Indian 'is world's oldest mother'

The previous record was held by a 63-year-old Italian mother

A 65-year-old retired schoolteacher in India has given birth to a baby boy, and become the world's oldest mother, according to press reports.

If the claim is fully verified, then Satyabhama Mahapatra, from Nayagarh in Orissa, would beat the previous record holder by two years.

The boy, reportedly healthy and weighing 3kilogrammes (6lb 8oz), was born by Caesarean section at a private home, according to the Times of India.

The baby was not conceived naturally, but is the combination of an egg from the woman's 26-year-old niece, Veenarani Mahapatra, and the sperm of Veenarani's husband.

Satyabhama and her husband have been married 50 years, but this is their first child.

The pregnancy was not uncomplicated, say the reports - Satyabhama was hospitalised for the final trimester of the pregnancy.

The procedure cost about 30,000 rupees ($630).

Not put off

Hospital authorities say they tried to discourage her and her husband Krishnachandra from trying for a baby in this way, but relented when they insisted.

One of the doctors who helped deliver the child told the BBC he had notified the Guinness Book of Records and its Indian counterpart, the Limca Book of Records.

The previous record-holder was a 63-year-old woman from Italy, who also conceived using IVF.

The previous oldest mother in India was a 58-year-old from Mumbai (Bombay).

The case is made all the more remarkable by the fact that average life expectancy for an Indian woman is only just over 63.

In comparative terms, the age at which women enter the menopause is slightly lower in India than in some western countries.