HARYANA, India, May 11 (UPI) -- A woman in India has become a first-time mother at the age of 72 after having IVF treatments.
Daljinder Kaur gave birth to a healthy boy last month at the National Fertility Centre in the northern state of Haryana.
"God heard our prayers," she said. "My life feels complete now. I am looking after the baby all by myself, I feel so full of energy. My husband is also very caring and helps me as much as he can."
The boy, who has been named Arman Singh, arrived on April 19, about 20 years after Kaur reached menopause. He weighed 4 lbs. 4 oz at birth and was said to be "healthy and hearty."
The baby's parents, who have been married for 46 years, used their own egg and sperm to conceive the child, and had IVF treatments for two years before they were successful.
Kaur said she did not believe she was too old to be a first-time mother and added that she felt very well and fit enough to cope.
She said that she had almost given up hope of ever having a child and had faced ridicule in a country where infertility is sometimes seen as a curse from God.
"Everyone asked me to adopt a baby, but I never wanted to. I had faith in Almighty, and knew I will bear my child one day. Waheguru has answered my prayers," she told The Times of India.
Her husband, Mohinder Singh Gill, who owns a farm outside Amritsar, said he was unconcerned about their age.
"People say what will happen to the child once we die. But I have full faith in God. God is omnipotent and omnipresent, he will take care of everything," he said.
Anurag Bishnoi, who runs the fertility clinic, admitted that he was at first unsure about going ahead with the treatment, but tests indicated the mother would be able to carry the unborn baby.
"I first tried to avoid the case because she looked very frail. Then we made her undergo all the tests and once all the results were okay we went ahead," Dr Bishnoi said.
The case is not the first in India. A 72-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh state reportedly giving birth to twins in 2008, also through IVF.