Janet Jackson shocked the world when she recently announced, days before her 50th birthday, that she was expecting her first child. (She steered clear of using the word “pregnant”, and with her penchant for secrecy and media deception, I’m skeptical…but I digress…).
Whether Miss-Jackson-If-You’re-Nasty is pregnant or not, a woman in India, Dajinder Kaur, has trumped her by giving birth to her son, Aman Singh.
The new, first-time mom puts her age at about 70, but the clinic where she gave birth released a statement that says she’s 72.
What’s a couple of years? At the sprightly young age of 70-something, Kaur has become a first time mom with her husband of 46 years, 79-year-old Mohinder Singh.
You’ll be as shocked as I was to learn that the gushing new parents conceived little Arman via in-vitro fertilization. They decided to go through fertility treatment over a year ago.
Well into their 70s, they’d better be praising God that their in-vitro pregnancy didn’t yield multiple births, as they often do. They’re going to have a hard enough time chasing after ONE kid, at their age!
Nonetheless, one can’t help but be happy for the couple, who finally got what they wanted after many years of wishing and praying.
“I feel blessed to be able to hold my own baby,” Kaur said. “I had lost hope of becoming a mother ever. There was so much loneliness. I used to feel empty.”
I don’t usually speak for mothers. I have one and was married to another, but by no means am I an expert on mothering. But I think that all mothers would agree that Kaur will be replacing emptiness with exhaustion!
Doctors initially told Kaur that she was too old to conceive, in-vitro or not. Relatives suggested that the cost of the treatment — close to $15,000 — would be better spent adopting one of the many children worldwide who are in need of loving parents.
Faur was not interested.
“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 said.
At press time, Kaur is breastfeeding her newborn, and plans to do so for as long as possible.
Breastfeeding at 70-something? Sweet little Arman is being fed powdered milk.
As happy as Kaur is, one has to wonder whether she and her husband plan to have another child, and give little Arman a sibling.
“I think I’d die if I try for another kid and wouldn’t be able to enjoy my precious Arman,” she said.
I think Kaur may die anyway before little Arman grows up. 70-something and having her first kid?? Really??? I had both of mine in my 20s, and can’t imagine keeping up with one even now, let alone when I’m in my 70s.
Kaur will be pushing 80, and his dad will be well into his 80s, before Arman starts school. I don’t think that’s fair to the kid. My girls talk about me teaching them to catch a football and ride a bike, playing on the jungle gym with them at the playground, and riding amusement park rides with them. They don’t have memories of pushing me to the park in a wheelchair.
Nonetheless, I wish the happy new parents many, many days and weeks with Arman. And I hope to interview Arman one day, when I’m in my 70s, to hear HIS side of this story!
This blog was written by freelance writer Michael P Coleman, who became a first-time father at 21 years old. As challenging as that was, he’s thankful to be decades away from his 70s with adult children.
Connect with him at michaelpcoleman.com or on Twitter: @ColemanMichaelP
