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72-year-old woman spends £300k on IVF
Ellen Widdup14 Jul 2009
A woman of 72 has spent £300,000 on IVF treatment - and is still trying for a baby.
Jenny Brown, who has never had a long-term relationship, has travelled to the United States and Italy trying to conceive and now plans to visit Bulgaria, Romania, Spain and India in her quest to become a mother.
She has already had six courses of IVF at a cost of £5,000 a time and is prepared to keep spending to achieve her dream.
If she is successful, she will become the oldest mother in the world.
Today Miss Brown, who lives in a three-bedroom flat in London, said she has always wanted a baby but spent her younger years devoted to academia, achieving degrees in medical sciences and zoology.
In her early 50s she decided the time was right and started looking for a sperm donor.
When she failed to get pregnant naturally, she started using her savings to have the IVF treatment. She is now appealing for women aged 20 to 35 to come forward and donate eggs but she is determined not to use a surrogate.
It's important that I carry the baby myself because I believe that even if I get pregnant with a donated egg, I will pass genetic material on to the baby while I carry it in the womb, she said. I believe the baby will look more like me that way.
Critics of her behaviour point out she would be old enough to be the child's great-grandmother and could leave it orphaned at a young age. Miss Brown said she hoped to live to 100.
Reader views (6)
Listen i understand the craving for a child as me and my partner are going through the same thing though different circumstances.There as been women your age giving birth,most of the time fine.So Jenny if your reading this ive got the eggs and sperm both im 26 my partner 43 and as the docter discribe my partners sperm as that of a god most men have 20,000,000 sperms my partner as 150,000,000 , i dont know if that makes him pritty special but he is to me.With out going into any spaciffics my eggs r cock on,its just my delivery thats messed up.
- Andrew, Sheffield England, 23/07/2009 08:51
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I can say only one thing,pursuit of happiness.
- Pintolal, Mumbai ,india, 18/07/2009 03:18
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Intelligent? Medical degrees? She states It's important that I carry the baby myself because I believe that even if I get pregnant with a donated egg, I will pass genetic material on to the baby while I carry it in the womb, she said. I believe the baby will look more like me that way.
How absurd and medically inaccurate. She's lost her mind. She needs to be in dementia ward.
- Becky, hatfield USA, 17/07/2009 03:10
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Quite clearly this woman is not of sound mind. I hope any doctors that are assisting her with IVF are also struck off as they obviously have no medical ethics.
- Jl, London, 17/07/2009 02:10
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Hey I say good on you if this is what you want and have a support system in place which im sure you do as you are obviously very intelligent woman.Men father children in their 60 and 70s and no one blinks an eyelid again women will be victimized you have my support all the way.
- Michelle, sydney, 17/07/2009 02:10
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What a waste of money and time. In 5 years time, she'll probably have forgotten she even had a child.
- Nowan King, London, 17/07/2009 02:10
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