World's oldest mother may not get in record book: 07-07-2008
An Indian woman who has become the world's oldest mother at the age of 70 may be snubbed by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Omakari Panwar, from Uttar Pradesh in North India, had a boy and a girl by caesarean section after having IVF treatment with the aim of providing her 77-year-old husband, Charan Singh, a male heir.
In India, having a male child is highly desirable in a culture where people look for a male heir to carry on the family name.
Mr Panwar spent his entire life's savings, mortgaging his land and selling his livestock, to pay for the treatment.
"We prayed to God, went to saints and visited religious places to pray for an heir," he said.
"The treatment cost me a fortune but the birth of a son makes it all worthwhile.
"I can die a happy man and a proud father."
Although it would appear that India has a world record holder, it looks unlikely that there will be a new entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as Mrs Panwar's exact age cannot be determined.
She doesn't have a birth certificate and doesn't know her date of birth so she estimates her age to be 70 as she remembers being nine years old when the British left India in 1947.
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