An Italian woman has become the country’s oldest mother at the age of 63, after she gave birth to a healthy baby boy following fertility treatment in Ukraine.
After months of IVF treatment in Ukraine, even under the threat of bombs from Russian forces, little Sebastian was born on June 3 to his mother Flavia Alvaro.
Flavia, who will turn 64 in October, gave birth to Sebastian, who weighed nearly two kilograms (4.4lbs), at the Versilia hospital in Lido di Camaiore, in northwest Italy, via a C-Section earlier than expected, with the pregnancy reaching 31 weeks and four days.
The library worker’s fertility doctor, Andrea Marsili, told Corrier della Sera that Flavia didn’t tell him about her trips to war-torn Ukraine, where there is no legal upper age limit for fertility treatment, until she came back.
‘She organised them herself completely independently and I was only made aware of it after the fact’, he said of the new mother, who he also described as a ‘stubborn woman.’
Flavia Alvaro (pictured, left) became Italy’s oldest mother at the age of 63
Flavia, who will turn 64 in October, gave birth to Sebastian at the Versilia hospital in Lido di Camaiore, in northwest Italy (pictured)
Sebastian is currently in the hospital’s premature ward, and will be allowed to go home when he reached a healthy enough weight.
But the journey of his birth wasn’t easy at all.
When she arrived in Kyiv last autumn, Vladimir Putin’s forces were attacking the capital city.
In the chaos of war, she ended up getting lost in Kyiv. The Ukrainian fertility clinic was forced to call her hospital in Italy to ask where she was.
On top of having to undergo fertility treatment in Ukraine at a time when war was ravaging the nation, Flavia’s treatment alone cost €15,000.
Flavia also tragically suffered a miscarriage the first time she tried the treatment.
Indian woman Erramatti Mangamma (pictured, right), who gave birth to a pair of twins at the age of 73 in 2019, is the oldest woman in the world to give birth
Mangamma and her husband Sitarama Rajarao (pictured, centre) spoke to several local doctors before going through IVF treatment
The UK’s record holder, Elizabeth Adeney (pictured) gave birth to her son in 2009 at the age of 66
The businesswoman also travelled to Ukraine for IVF treatment, as clinics in the UK refuse to treat women over the age of 50
But it was all worth it in the end to become a mother to Sebastian.
Flavia blew the previous record holder for the oldest woman to give birth in Italy.
That title was only in Italian singer Gianna Nannini’s hands for 14 years, after she gave birth to baby Penelope at the age of 56.
But Flavia is still nowhere near in age to the current record holder, Indian woman Erramatti Mangamma who gave birth to a pair of twins at the age of 73 in 2019.
Mangamma and her husband Sitarama Rajarao spoke to several local doctors before going through IVF treatment and giving birth to the twins in Hyderabad via C-Section.
She is, however, similar in age to the UK’s record holder, Elizabeth Adeney, who gave birth to her son in 2009 at the age of 66.
The businesswoman also travelled to Ukraine for IVF treatment, as clinics in the UK refuse to treat women over the age of 50, and the NHS does not recommend fertility treatment for women over the age of 40.
