Mary Shearing, 53, Gave Birth to Twins

Picture caption: Mary Shearing gave birth to twin daughters in November 1992 at the age of 53. Amy and Kelly, now 20 years old, prove that fertility treatment allowing postmenopausal women to have babies is not a new phenomenon.

November 12, 1992 - A 53-year-old grandmother who became pregnant through test-tube fertilization has given birth to twin girls.

The new mother, Mary Shearing, is apparently the oldest woman ever to have given birth to a test-tube baby in the United States.

Dennis Gaschen, a spokesman at Martin Luther Hospital, where the twins were delivered on Tuesday, said the oldest post-menopausal woman in the nation to have delivered a test-tube baby previously was 52.

The Guinness Book of Records lists the oldest mother as a woman nearly 57 1/2 years old who gave birth in California in 1956.

Mrs. Shearing's babies, born 12 weeks prematurely and both weighing less than three pounds, were listed as being in guarded condition today. One was delivered vaginally, the other by Caesarean section.

Mrs. Shearing, who has three children and two grandchildren from a previous marriage, was going through menopause when she was implanted on May 15 with embryos obtained by using donated eggs and sperm from her 32-year-old husband, Don. Hormones were used in the first trimester to sustain the pregnancy.

This Pregnancy Over 40 story was found on NYtimes.com
Read more: California Woman, 53, Gives Birth to Twins,
Originally published November 12, 1992

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