62-year-old mum gave birth to a healthy baby

October 21, 2016  11:51

Proud 62-year-old mum Lina Alvarez poses with her week-old daughter as she leaves hospital after her Caesarian.

The Spanish doctor shed tears as she admitted: “I couldn’t feel happier” on the steps of Lucas Augusti Hospital in the Galician city of Lugo.

Lina, whose daughter shares her name, sparked debate in her home nation by announcing last month she was eight months pregnant with her third child.

The new arrival was born two weeks ahead of schedule last Monday weighing 5.2lbs after her mum was admitted for observation when she began to suffer high blood pressure.

Lina’s eldest son Exiquio, 28, who is disabled after a medical error left him injured during her pregnancy, and her second son Samuel, 10, met their sister shortly after her birth.

She insisted today she felt “phenomenal” as she left the hospital which has been her home for just over the past week and agreed to pose with her baby daughter for waiting photographers.

She said: “I feel phenomenal. I couldn’t be better. I’m very very grateful to life for such a precious little thing.”

Speaking before leaving hospital, she added: “I’m looking forward to resting for at least a couple of days now so I can enjoy time with my daughter and recover.

“My emotions have got the better of me and I’ve been crying a lot out of happiness.

“My eldest son’s smile since Lina was born is worth much more than all the criticism I might get for this.”

Doctor, 62, eight months pregnant with THIRD child twenty seven years after having her first baby

Her pregnancy has caused heated debate in her native Galicia and prompted calls for a limit on the age at which women can obtain fertility treatment.

Ms Alvarez had her second child 10 years after her menopause at the age of 52 thanks to IVF treatment.

She ended up having to travel to Madrid to see a gynaecologist after many clinics refused to help her because of her age when she decided she wanted a third baby.

Before the birth of her new daughter, she brushed off criticism and said: “When she is 30 I’ll be 90. She’ll have been raised and life expectancy for women is growing all the time.

“I always wanted to be a mother again but most medical experts said ‘no’.

“Then some years ago I met a gynaecologist who agreed to help me if the tests were okay. They were positive and so he helped me to implant an embryo.

“They said there was only a six per cent chance of success but I got pregnant with a baby girl. I feel like I’m having a second chance and the pregnancy has made me younger and stronger.”

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The world’s oldest documented mother is Daljinder Kaur from India, who gave birth last year at the age of 70 after two years of IVF treatment . Baby Armaan was born weighing 4.4lbs.

Britain’s oldest mum is Elizabeth Adeney, from Suffolk, who had a son aged 66 in 2009 after travelling to Ukraine for treatment.

Lina admitted today she had received calls from all over the world including London from well wishers and wannabe mums asking for information about the clinic which helped her get pregnant.

So far she has declined to reveal the name of the clinic or the gynaecologist.

She said: “All I can say to those women wanting to be mums is that they seek information on the Internet because they will find centres where they can receive help.”

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