Single mother María Carmen del Bousada de Lara, a retired shop worker from Cadiz in Spain, has died at the age of 69, orphaning her two and a half year old twin sons that she gave birth to at the age of 66 after receiving IVF treatment at an American fertility clinic.
Bousada's family told the Spanish newspaper Diario de Cadiz that she died on Saturday but gave no details.
Bousada's death, which according to the Spanish newspaper is thought to be from cancer, has reignited the debate about allowing older women to undergo fertility treatment. The newspaper said she was diagnosed with cancer shortly after giving birth to Christian and Pau at Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona on 29 December 2006.
After the births, Bousada told a Spanish television programme that the drugs she took during the IVF treatment probably helped the cancer to spread. She said however that she had no regrets.
Bousada went to America to have in vitro fertilization treatment in early 2006, after selling her house in Cadiz to help pay for it. She later admitted lying about her age: she told doctors who treated her at the Pacific Fertility Centre in Los Angeles that she was 55.
According to a report in Times Online, one of the doctors, Vicken Sahakian, told the press later that Bousada had presented fake documents showing she was 55 years old. Sahakian said:
"If I had known her real age I would not have treated her."
However, according to the Diario de Cadiz report, Bousada had said that nobody at the Los Angeles clinic had asked to see her passport, nor had they asked for proof of her age.
The first stage of her treatment involved hormone treatment to reverse the menopause: she had not had a period for nearly 20 years. Bousada said later that it felt strange to have a period after so much time.
The Spanish paper reported that during the final stages of her pregnancy doctors were worried and even feared for her life. However, the babies were born with no complications, apart from having to spend one month in incubators.
Bousada's brother, Ricardo said yesterday that his sister's fight against cancer will be covered in a story that has been sold to a Spanish television channel. He did not give details about the exact cause of his sister's disease and said that the money from the deal would help provide for his orphaned nephews.
Bousada's family will most likely care for the two boys; there is speculation that younger cousins thought to be in their thirties or forties will take on the role.
The news has provoked fresh calls for an upper age limit for fertility treatment in Spain, where family values are important, said a Times Online report.
Nuria Terribas of the Borja Bioethics Institute told the press that:
"We think a limit of 45 should be established in law."
"Cases like this not only create physical dangers for the mother but many family complications," added Terribas.
Josep Torrence of the progressive Catholic organization Iglesia Plural said that leaving children unprotected should not be allowed.
"What is needed are stricter controls to stop this happening again," he added.
After her twin boys were born, Bousada reportedly told UK's The News of the World that she expected to live a long life.
"My mother lived to 101 years old and I have every reason to believe longevity runs in my family," she said, even joking that she might live to see her grandchildren.
According to Diario de Cadiz, Bousada had cared for her mother until her death in 2005 and it was only then that she felt she could go ahead and realize her dream to have children. When she told a small circle of friends what she was going to do, nobody believed her, and said it would be impossible, reported the newspaper.
Bousada asked that people not judge her, when she commented about the surprised reactions she evoked when people saw she was pregnant.
According to a BBC report, when Bousada gave birth she was 66 years and 358 days old, which is 130 days older than Adriana Iliescu of Romania who gave birth to a baby girl in 2005.
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