ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997 TAG: 9704240065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
The patient experienced minor complications during the pregnancy. The baby was born by Caesarean section at 38 weeks gestation and was breast-fed.
A 63-year-old Southern California woman is thought to be the oldest woman in the world to give birth to a healthy infant. But she accomplished the feat only through the use of eggs donated by another woman and by lying about her age, according to University of Southern California doctors.
The case of the woman, whose identity was not revealed, is reported in today's Fertility and Sterility journal by Dr. Richard J. Paulson, an infertility specialist at USC.
The woman, who is married and had been childless, began fertility treatment at the clinic three years ago. She gave birth to a 6-pound, 2-ounce girl at Loma Linda University Medical Center on Nov. 7, 1996. The father is 60.
While infertility doctors have clearly established that a postmenopausal woman is capable of giving birth with donor eggs, the case has caused some to ponder the unknown biological limits of pregnancy and the ethical question of whether there should be an age cap on becoming a parent.
The case began three years ago when the woman arrived in Paulson's clinic stating she was 50 and bearing medical records attesting to that age. As pioneers in the use of donor eggs for postmenopausal women, USC has an age limit of 55 on accepting patients - one of the most liberal among U.S. infertility centers.
``All of her medical records supported that she was 50,'' Paulson said. No additional identification was sought. From the woman's appearance, he said, ``we didn't have reason to suspect anything different.''
After an extensive medical work-up required of all older women seeking to become pregnant, the woman underwent two cycles of in-vitro fertilization, using her husband's sperm and eggs from an anonymous donor. She became pregnant on the second in-vitro attempt, and finally - when she was 13 weeks pregnant - confessed her age.
At that point, Dr. Herminia Salvador, an obstetrician at Loma Linda University, took over her case.
``I did not believe it when my front-desk employee told me I was seeing a 63-year-old,'' Salvador said. ``I had seen her in the waiting room, and I thought she must be a gynecology patient. She looked 63 to me.''
The patient experienced minor complications during the pregnancy, including elevated blood pressure and gestational diabetes, which were controlled by bed rest and diet, respectively. The healthy girl was born by Caesarean section at 38 weeks gestation and was breast-fed.
Medical literature attests to fewer than 100 births to women older than 50 worldwide. The average age of women using egg donation at the USC clinic is 43.
Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly common for older women seeking egg donation to lie about their age, said Dr. Mark Sauer, an infertility specialist at Columbia University Medical School in New York who pioneered the use of donor eggs in older women while at USC in the late 1980s.
Infertility clinics, Paulson and others noted, may have to reconsider their age-limit policies or request that patients document their ages.
Although many clinics have raised their age limits for receiving egg donation over the past several years, Sauer argues that 55 should remain the limit.
``The danger in treating 60-year-olds is that it's unknown territory,'' said Sauer, who now asks to see a driver's license and passport from older candidates.
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