A 60-year-old woman who reportedly received in vitro fertilization (IVF) in India has given birth to twins in a Calgary hospital, igniting a prickly ethical over fertility treatments for women older than 50.
The mother, Ranjit Hayer, delivered her two boys seven weeks premature by caesarean section at Calgary's Foothills Hospital on Tuesday, according to a Calgary Health Region spokesperson.
Hayer is recovering in intensive care and the twins are also in neo-natal intensive care. All three are expected to remain there for several days.
Hayer had tried to conceive children for several years, but she suffered several miscarriages, according to CTV Calgary.
When her age precluded her from receiving in vitro fertilization treatment in Canada, Hayer flew to India and was impregnated with donated eggs, CTV Calgary reported.
After her treatments in India, Hayer conceived triplets, but one of the embryos had to be terminated for medial reasons, the television station said.
But in Canada, fertility clinics generally refuse to treat women over the age of 50, and the births have stirred up a contentious debate about age, motherhood and fertility.
According to Cal Greene, the director of the fertility program at Calgary's Foothills Hospital, giving IVF to women in their 60s and 70s is unethical.
But he added: "I don't want to tar and feather all of the fertility clinics in India because of the bad actions of a few."
Meanwhile, University of Toronto bio-ethicist Kerry Bowman said that clinics in India pursue a "free market" approach when deciding to treat patients over the age of 50.
Although it's difficult to set an age when child-bearing becomes unacceptable, giving birth at 60 is very much "outside of our comfort zone" in Canada, said Bowman.
He added that it's plausible that a 50-year-old woman can conceive a child naturally, meaning the medical community should adopt a case-by-case approach to IVF rather than establishing a set-in-stone cut-off age.
"I think we need public debate about what the parameters are," Bowman said.
The Calgary births come only days after a woman in California had octuplets after receiving fertility treatments.
The mother, who lives at her parent's home, now has 14 children and her treatments have led to an international debate about a woman's right to bear children.
Last August, a 61-year-old Japanese woman gave birth to her own grandchild, using an egg donated by her daughter.
A month before that, a 77-year-old woman was reported to have given birth to twins in India.
With files from CTV Calgary
