Sixty-Year-Old Single Japanese Woman Becomes Pregnant By IVF

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - A 60-year-old single Japanese woman has become pregnant from a donated fertilised egg. Doctors believe the woman will be the oldest single mother in Japan to give birth from a donated egg.

The woman, whose name is not disclosed owing to privacy concerns, received her In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment in the United States. However, upon returning to Japan, she was rejected by other clinics because of her age.

As she progressed 15 weeks into her pregnancy, she found an obstetrician Dr. Yahiro Netsu who willing to handle her case. Netsu is a high-profile obstetrician at Suwa Maternity Clinic in Nagano, central Japan who has handled controversial pregnancies involving surrogate mothers.

"I had to make a tough decision about whether to handle the pregnancy," Netsu told the Associated Press.

"But she wanted a child, and I decided to do all I can to help her through expected difficulties," he added.

According to Kyodo News, it would be the first case of a single woman giving birth to a child from a donated embryo in Japan since fertility treatment is provided almost exclusively to married couples.

The oldest known pregnancy case in Japan involved a 60-year-old married woman who gave birth in 2001 after IVF using a donated egg in the U.S. and her husband's sperm, the Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday.

A 67-year-old Spanish woman gave birth to twins in December 2006, becoming the oldest known mother.