U.K.: Woman, 62, Is Mother To Baby Boy

LONDON (BBC News), July 8, 2006: A 62-year-old has become Britain's oldest mother after she gave birth to a baby boy. Dr Patricia Rashbrook and her husband described the 6lb 10oz baby, who has been nicknamed JJ, as "beautiful". The child psychiatrist from Lewes, East Sussex, reportedly underwent a Caesarean section which went smoothly. Dr Rashbrook travelled to Italy with her husband John Farrant, 60, to get fertility treatment from controversial doctor Severino Antinori. Dr Rashbrook already has three grown-up children aged 26, 22 and 18 from her first marriage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is important in parenting is not how old you are, but whether you are meeting all the child's needs and we are very confident about doing that - Dr Patricia Rashbrook ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ She has been described as "selfish" by pro-life groups for having a child at such an advanced stage in her life. But the child psychiatrist told the Daily Mail she felt "it was the right thing to do" and she did not feel too old to have a baby. She said: "We would not have gone ahead if we'd felt we would not be good enough parents. We are both extremely healthy and I have always looked and felt very young, but nevertheless we have younger friends with children who have agreed to act as surrogate parents should anything happen to us. "What is important in parenting is not how old you are, but whether you are meeting all the child's needs and we are very confident about doing that." World's oldest mother Sharing her thoughts on her newly-born son, Dr Rashbrook went on: "He is adorable and seeing him for the first time was beyond words. Having been through so much to have him, we are overjoyed. His birth was absolutely wonderful and deeply moving for both of us." The couple said the baby had been nicknamed 'JJ' early on in the pregnancy, but are yet to decide what his full name will be. Dr Rashbrook is not the first woman in her 60s to become a new mother. Liz Buttle, from Wales, was 60 years old when she gave birth to a son, Joseph, in 1997. The oldest woman in the world to give birth is thought to be Adriana Iliescu, from Romania, who had a daughter called Eliza Maria in January last year at the age of 66.