There’s no question that Daljinder Kaur is one of the oldest mothers on record, but just how old she is has yet to be determined.
The new mother puts her age at about 70, but the clinic where she gave birth released a statement saying she was 72, according to AFP.
Regardless of her exact age, the new baby was the answer to decades of prayers by Kaur and her husband of 46 years, Mohinder Singh, 79.
“I feel blessed to be able to hold my own baby. I had lost hope of becoming a mother ever, I used to feel empty. There was so much loneliness.” Kaur told news crew.
Singh said the couple decided to go through fertility treatment about a year and a half ago.
“Due to a family feud we never focused on our dream to become parents,” Singh told Barcroft TV.
“In September 2014, my wife gave me an ultimatum and said she would go the National Fertility and Test Tube Baby Centre in Hisar, Haryana, independently if I did not accompany her.”
Doctors told Faur she was too old and relatives suggested that the cost of the treatment — around $14,448 — would be better spent by adopting a needy child.
However, the couple decided to go through with it anyway.
“ I never wanted to adopt a child as I was unsure if I would be able to love it like my own, hence I was keen to give birth to a baby myself ” she told Barcroft TV.
Kaur conceived her child using donor eggs from a fertility clinic, since she was 20 years post-menopause.
Giving birth post-menopause is becoming increasingly commonin India, according to the Telegraph, mainly because of the low cost and unregulated practice of IVF treatments.
Currently, Kaur is breastfeeding her newborn and plans to do so as long as possible, according to Barcroft.
Despite her joy at being a new parent, Kaur has no plans to try for two.
“I think I’d die if I try for another kid and wouldn’t be able to enjoy my precious Arman,” she said.
As remarkable as Kaur is, she’s not the oldest woman to give birth.
That honor goes to Rajo Devi Lohan, who in 2008, gave birth to a daughter at the age of 74, according to the New York Daily News