Controversial Issues

A. At 62, Patricia Rashbrook is so far the oldest woman in Britain to give birth. The healthy baby boy, nicknamed JJ, was conceived through IVF,* after several previously failed attempts. The treatment was carried out by Dr Antinori, an Italian doctor who runs a fertility clinic in Rome. The birth sparked controversy among those in the fertility profession and attracted media attention around the world. JJ was Ms Rashbrook's fourth child; the youngest of the other three was 18 when his new sibling was born. John Farrant, Ms Rashbrook's new husband, told the media that they were well able to meet the child's needs. The couple say that they are in good health, but in the event that they both meet an untimely death, friends have agreed to become surrogate parents.

В. We can divide opinion on this issue into two major camps. Those who are vehemently against older people giving birth say that the parents are only thinking of themselves. They believe that the child will be ashamed of having much older parents as he or she grows up. Furthermore, there is considerable likelihood that the child will be bereaved much sooner in life than is normal. Those in the other camp, however, point to the fact that many children are brought up by grandparents and benefit from this arrangement. Older parents can often offer the child greater financial security and constant devotion. Moreover, they argue that if the government ever started to impose legal restrictions on the types of people who could have children, there is no telling where those restrictions would end.

*IVF = In Vitro Fertilization: the medical process in which a woman's egg is fertilized outside the body and then put back inside to grow into a baby

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