A Hartford woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl on January 9, 2015. That’s not unusual. What’s unusual is that Rosalinda Aguirre was 51 years old.
Rosalinda is from Peru, where she and her husband met. The couple had their first child, a son, when Rosalinda was only 17. That son is now 34 years old.
The family moved to the United States. While Rosalinda wanted more children, she and her husband decided to wait until they were financially stable. They became citizens, bought a house, and then tried to have another child. Rosalinda spent her thirties trying to conceive naturally, but they were unsuccessful.
Once Rosalinda turned 40, the couple looked into doing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in the United States. They did not attempt it since it was too expensive and not covered by insurance. Instead, they decided to return to Peru where IVF is more affordable.
Doctors in Peru fertilized four of Rosalinda’s eggs. She became pregnant. Despite statistics showing an 80 to 90% increase in miscarriages in pregnant women over age 45, Rosalinda had no complications. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Rosalinda Katherine.
The oldest woman in history to give birth may have been a 70 year old woman named Omkari Panwar. However, she does not have a birth certificate. The next oldest woman to give birth was Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara. She was a week shy of turning 67 when she gave birth to twins.