Let’s just start by saying that there are plenty of advantages to being an older mom. And there are plenty of truly badass famous older moms out there, living their best lives and setting fantastic examples for their kids. But we also have to add the caveat that when we talk about “older” moms, we tend to be aiming…somewhere towards the giving-birth-at-45 age range? New mom Margaret Adenuga of Nigeria, however, is more than badass; she’s downright remarkable. Adenuga gave birth to twins this week in Lagos — at 68 years old.
Adenuga’s husband, Noah Adenuga, told CNN that becoming parents had been a goal of the couple’s for a long time — one they refused to give up on, even after three attempts at IVF didn’t work out.
“I am a dreamer, and I was convinced this particular dream of ours will come to pass,” he told CNN.
“As an elderly woman and a first-time mother,” Okunowo explained to CNN, “It was a high-risk pregnancy and also because she was going to have twins but we were able to manage her pregnancy to term… There are age-related medical complications that come with being pregnant at that age such as the baby being born preterm. She’s lucky but many may succumb to other complications during or after having a baby.”
The March of Dimes echoes this warning, advisinng that being pregnant after age 35 does make complications more common. But the bottom line? Plenty of later-in-life pregnancies and births go along just fine. Plus, according to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, women who are over 25 when they first give birth are 11% more likely to live to 90, compared to women who give birth younger than 25 — of course this may have less to do with physical health and more to do with the social factors often involved with teen and very young adult pregnancy. One Harvard University study even found a link between older dads and longer life spans, too.
Regardless, Adenuga made it this far without a hitch and welcomed two healthy babies, so honestly, congrats and more power to her. Plus she didn’t even name them Covid and Corona (we hope??), so bonus points for that.
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