The Grainsons are the parents of 5-year-old twins, Matthew and David.
They also have an 8-year-old son, Luke.
“This is a good man,” she said.
“I wanted him to have the experience of parenthood more than anything.
And I wanted to have a child with him.”
She is part of a growing trend in America of women giving birth into their fifth decade.
“He married me [in 2001] thinking he would not have children.
Then I saw a woman on television [discussing IVF].
I said, ‘This is my last chance.’
"
The notion of delivering babies after 50 is not as inconceivable as it once seemed.
Rajo Devi gave birth at 70 to her first child in 2008 in India.
She is the oldest woman recorded to give birth.
The first child born through the fertility-enhanced method was in 1978 in England.
Sure enough, from 2008 to 2012, the birth rate in England doubled for women 50 and older.
Why some disapprove
But social attitudes have been slow to catch up withmedical advances.
No similar survey has been taken in the U.S., but experts say clearly many disapprove.
“They wonder how she will handle a recalcitrant toddler in the terrible twos,” Steinbock said.
“Will she be able to relate?
Will the child feel embarrassed because the parents look like everyone else’s grandparents?”
But for Steinbock, the strongest argument in favor of post-50 births is procreative liberty.
“People should be able to make their own decisions,” she said.
