A grandma has given birth to triplets !!

Good luck to her I say.....must be mad. Hope her partner is supportive.

At 62 I've just (with my husband) come back from a week's holiday with our 3 and 6 year old grandsons. For the first two nights after we got home my poor husband, who's ten years younger than I am, went to bed before 9pm - we were both really tired out. The boys are well behaved and no trouble, but exuberant and typical of their ages. If pregnancy happens naturally in later years then so be it, but to choose the IVF route at such a late age is to possibly invite problems. Older people can, and do, often make very good, patient parents, but it may come at a great cost for both parents and children.

I have a friend who adopted a 1YR old when she was fifty. Her DH was 52 I have never seen anyone look so tired and she hadnt actually been pregnant either.Child is now 18 and at Uni .I think she does worry about dying when child is relatively young ,but otherwise its been fine .However money is not an issue, which helps
I do think the cliche is true Children do 'keep you young'I had DD2 at nearly 40 and everyone thinks I must be much younger than my now 65 .My DCs forget I'm actually quite old and expect me to keep up when walking etc Have just worked very hard for over a week helping DD1 with a house move
I assume they wouldnt have done the IVF if she wasnt in reasonable health .....

What a thought going through the menopause and running around after three toddlers then even worse three teenagers when approaching your seventies I feel sorry for the children too my mother was 42 when she had me by the time I reached my thirties both my parents had passed away.

Why can't we have a 'like' to click on, on here? ...... I keep trying to like people's comments and then remember, I can't.

At the moment lots of Grandparents are "bringing up children " due to parents going back to work ..... so why the fuss ? My BIL hardly saw his Mum when he was a chisler ..... now he is 60+ with cancer and is running about like the proverbial b... a.... fly taking her here there and everywhere because , at 80 , she has decided he is her fav and won't let he daughters take her for appointments . He is delighted to finally get to know her ! You could say that is late Motherhood !!

My idea of a nightmare I'm afraid!
The thought of 15 year olds when you're 70 [shudders]

I'm looking after delightful DGS this week and it's exhausting (but great fun!), he's up at 6 and on the go to 7.30 in the evening ???

There is a world of difference between having babies naturally at 45 and having IVF triplets at 55. Nature knows best and frankly having 3 babies at that age is IMO madness. People (and I include men here) don't have the same energy. And oh my goodness imagine dealing with 3 stroppy teenagers in your 70s ? I found it hard enough in my 40s!!

Wasn't there a case of a Russian woman having a baby at 65? Why on earth would anyone choose to go through that?

Totally mad IMO.

Jayh and Anya nice sentiments
However as an ex midwife and granny aged 55 I disagree with a woman of 55 travelling abroad for ivf which cannot be bought in this country. A multiple pregnancy carries greater risks for mum and babies and her age increases the risks. I understand all are well (good, I'm pleased) but mum has put her body under a massive strain and long term effects are yet to be realised. I hope she copes with the teenage years and lives long enough to see that time as a memory to smile about.....teenagers have a tough time and so do their parents generally. I also wish them all well and hope the babies bring her much joy.

What's done is done.

Welcome to the world triplets

It'd be hard enough work now at 55 but three 10 year old at 65 ...NO I just know I wouldn't be up to it. I had three for four days recently and I'm still trying to recover and I'm only 63. I hope she has the money for a nanny/ housekeeper

The babies are quite small. I hope they are in good health.

The difference between a man fathering children when he is older is that he can because he doesn't have to carry them in his body for nine months. There is a reason for the menopause - it's a safety device for mothers! Growing a baby is one of the most dangerous things women actually do (even it if it a natural thing) and there is FAR more risk attached to it as women get older. If she had conceived naturally it would have been one thing but to have IVF and give birth to triplets is just asking for trouble.

Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood at 68 is becoming a father again with his much younger wife at 37 she's expecting twins so how old is to old for a man ??
And what's it going to be like for those twins when In their teenage years their dad gets mistaken for their great grandfather!

Perhaps IVF should not be made available for women over a certain age - although there is probably some law or other about people's rights regarding that. Having a child naturally at a later age is another thing altogether, it is what nature planned.

There might not be any statutory financial help available, but I think this mother will have to be bailed out sooner or later. And f77ms, money will be the important factor here.

She will be 64 when they are the same age as my GS! Three of them!! Well, jolly good luck with that!

I recently heard of someone who was expecting triplets aged 52 or 3. It was natural, no IVF, and she had never been pregnant before.

Janet Jackson has announced that she is expecting at 49. She is married to a billionaire though!

Where is this free childcare then ? my dils pay £50 a day nursery fees and they are not big earners , 2 days looked after by GPs or they would not be able to afford to work ! Anyway it is not all about money and benefits , more about exhaustion I would think at that age . Good luck to her I say>
I think you do get a bit of help with multiples but it is not much and not for long . ( unless the gov have stopped that too)

I haven't read the full story but I thought with multiple births you get extra help. I know our local further education college which trained nursery nurses used to offer help free of charge . Don't know whether they still do. Depends how fit you are. As someone said plenty of men fathering children at that age and beyond and people don't condemn(though they should)

Not sure how putting them in childcare would be at the taxpayer's expense jinglbellsfrocks, surely it would be at her expense? I would definitely be putting them in childcare to get some peace and quiet at work!

Our neighbour here, already a Gran, had a baby at 55, and another at 57. The father is the same age.
Turned out very sadly as they split up, she got custody. No idea how they're all doing now as they went back to the UK.

In the past, I expect quite a few twenty-five year olds had to rally round and look after parents. My grandmother had to support her mother and her younger sister from the age of nineteen. She had nine older siblings but they all had kids of their own to support on low wages by then.