Annegret Raunigk, the oldest lady on the planet at 65 to be expecting quadruplets, has turned into a household name overnight in Germany. The advantages and disadvantages of her pregnancy are being fiercely questioned across the nation on everything from forums online to television talk shows.
Raunigk, a school teacher and a single mom who has 13 kids by five different fathers, the eldest of whom is aged 43, was way past the age limit to be considered for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in Germany. Regulations on reproductive medicine are harsher there than in other countries, including a ban on egg donation and a restriction on the number of eggs that can be implanted. There is a definite tension to anything related with the manipulation of embryos, partly because of the utilization of eugenics during the Nazi period.
The criteria for who is considered eligible for IVF are also strictly controlled and so thousands of Germans travel abroad every year for fertility treatment. The government does not prohibit its citizens from doing so.
Raunigk had made consultations for 18 months to a clinic in Kiev, Ukraine, where she underwent intensive sperm-and-egg implantations costing an estimated £15,000 ($22,400). Contrary to the doctor's expectations, all four of the eggs developed into embryos.
Raunigk said she had made her decision after her youngest daughter, Lelia, 9, requested for a sibling.
Medical specialists and lawmakers assailed the German woman who is expecting the quads in eight weeks' time, calling her decision inadvisable and irresponsible, and warned other women against following her example.
As of the moment Raunigk's situation has attracted overwhelmingly negative feedbacks with just a couple of voices of support.
Doctors said that aside from the ethical issues, there is also about considerable health risks to both the mother and her babies.
Raunigk's quadruplets are due in August 2015, just as she approach her retirement age. But on her case, it is much more likely the babies will be born earlier, probably by caesarian section. On average, triplets and quadruplets are born around 11 weeks early.
She informed Bild am Sonntag she had initially reflected on giving up couple of the babies for adoption, before deciding to keep them all, citing the huge effort it had taken to get pregnant in the first place.
The tabloid newspaper Bild and the German television channel RTL have bought the exclusive rights to the story of the English and Russian primary school teacher, and will follow her pregnancy and birth.
Photo: Evil Erin | Flickr
