Women of all kinds, race or tribe are bound to give birth and raise children at a certain time in their lives. Usually, the onset of the fertility period is marked by the beginning of menstruation while menopause marks the end. The start and end of menses is different for all people, since our bodies function differently owing to genetics, our environment and lifestyle.
According to scientific findings, women are most fertile in their twenties. After this, the chances of conceiving dwindle and by the age of 35, the chances to successfully get pregnant are at 12%. By the age of 40, the chances have reduced to 7% with increased risks to both the baby and its mother.
Some mothers opt to go for artificial means of getting pregnant such as hormone replacement therapy, IVF treatment or egg donation, where natural conception fails or when menopause kicks in. There are however, several women across the world who defied nature and successfully carried full term pregnancies in their old age naturally. These women include;
Anthea Nicholas
50-year-old Anthea from Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and her 54-year-old husband Peter Byrnes had been told they were not capable of getting children in 2006 due to sperm imperfection. Peter however underwent a personal diet and health regime that corrected that defect. Unexpectedly, Anthea conceived and on June 15, 2011, the two welcomed their son Nicholas Jay.
Julienne Despeignes
At the age of 52 years, French Julienne and her 61-year-old husband Pierre Blouin welcomed their last daughter, Magdelaine, on June 11, 1757. The couple had twelve children before that among them two twins of opposite sex.
Sebastiana Maria da Conceicao
Brazilian Sebastiana Maria da Conceicao gave birth to a son, in May 2015 when she was 51 years old. According to her, after having her first child at the age of thirteen, the others kept coming. "I had my first son when I was 13, I was still a child, I didn’t know much. But after, at an older age, I started to have one after the other," she said. She and her husband had a total of eleven boys and ten girls, a total of 21 children, all naturally conceived.
Catherine Colonges
At the age of 52, French Catherine already had a 30-year-old and a 27-year-old sons and a 15-year-old daughter when she conceived again. In January 2011, Catherina and her husband Alain welcomed their triplets two sons, Elian and Alexis and daughter Léonore. The couple had three grandchildren at the time of the triplets’ birth.
Aracelia Garcia
In January 2000, 54-year-old Aracelia Garcia and her 60-year-old husband Guillermo welcomed triplet daughters Arianna, Brianna and Cecelia. The three newborns joined the couple’s earlier children to make a total of 14 siblings. Aracelia and Guillermo already had 13 grandchildren with two more on the way when the triplets were born. Aracelia delivered the three girls through a caesarian section.
Anna Martin
Mother of six Anna Martin from Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 24, 1972 welcomed her daughter Mary-Jane at the age of 57 years and 4 months. Anna and her 55-year-old husband Raymond Martin had two previous children from old age: a daughter when she was 52 and a son at 55. The couple’s eldest child Louis was 25-years-old when Mary-Jane was born.