At the age of 58, Carolyne Ness was desperate to become a mom. But there was one problem: In Australia, women are not able to undergo IVF past the age of natural menopause — around 52. Refusing to give up on her dream, Ness, who is single, traveled to New Delhi, India, where she used a donor egg and sperm to become pregnant with her first child.
Ness, now 59, and her 9-month-old son Javed, appeared on British talk show This Morning on Thursday, August 16. “My life is just complete now that I got my baby and I am so happy I’ve made the choice to go ahead with the IVF,” she gushed while bouncing the infant on her lap. “And even though I’m an older mother I’m coping really well and he’s very loved and very much wanted.”
The new mom —originally from Scotland — explained she anticipates she will be around for a long time. “My dad’s in his nineties and he’s still living at home alone, and my mom passed away just before Javed was born and she was in her mid-eighties so I expect to be around for quite a few years,” she revealed. “I’m just enjoying my time with him day to day and making the most of it.” But if something should happen to Ness, Javed will be in good hands. “My sister is willing to take him, she is five years younger and my best friend who was my birthing partner, she is ten years younger,” Ness noted.
Some viewers, however, were not so convinced. “I think she is very selfish. She is only thinking of herself and not being an old lady bringing up a child. I’m sure she will love him and give him a good start but she is possibly not going to be there for her son in his teens and early 20s,” wrote one person on Facebook. Added another: “Biology dictates that a woman can not naturally conceive at this age. Why go against that?” Many slammed Nesse for turning to medical intervention, rather than adopting a child in need.
But Ness also received plenty of support. As one woman wrote: “If she’s a good mother, provides a loving home and makes him happy, then who is anyone to question. Children are blessings whichever way they come.”
