Miracle: Chinese woman, 64, gives birth again after death of only child

Miracle: Chinese woman, 64, gives birth again after death of only child

Unnamed woman from Jilin province has healthy 3.7kg baby boy delivered by caesarean section

29 December, 2016

A woman in northern China has given birth to a healthy baby boy at the age of 64 after the death of her only child, mainland media reported.

The woman from Changchun, Jilin province, had stopped ovulating 10 years ago, but she was able to conceive as a result of ovarian stimulation and in-vitro fertilisation, where an egg is fertilised by sperm outside the body, the local newspaper Xinwenhua Bao reported.

Her 3.7kg son was delivered following a caesarean section at The Second Hospital of Jilin University on Wednesday morning.

The mother was said to be in a good condition, according to the report.

Her obstetrician, Teng Hong, who performed the operation, said the risk to the mother’s health had been high during her pregnancy.

“The family have been under great pressure, both mentally and physically,” Teng was quoted as saying.

“But at every prenatal check-up, she was smiling and talked with me in a gentle way.”

Teng said she had been touched when the mother raised her arm and thanked the doctors after the successful caesarean.

The woman and her family members declined to be interviewed, the report said.

It is not known when the woman’s other child had died.

Shidu families, or couples who have lost their only child, have become a major social problem under China’s one child policy.

The policy was official abolished only in 2015, with the change taking effect on January 1, 2016.

An official report in 2010 put the number of shidu families at about one million.

The government has been providing monthly allowances to them, but many doubt it is enough to meet the psychological and financial needs of the ageing parents.