I gave birth at 68 – my adult children hoped I would have an abortion
Her children threatened to cut the cord.
A mom gave birth to her third child naturally at 68 — and her two adult children almost stopped talking to her because of it.
Tian Xinju, now 70, conceived her daughter with Huang Weiping, 71, when she was 67. The senior parents, from Shandong province, recently celebrated their daughter’s third birthday.
They named her Tianci, meaning “heaven-sent” or “gift from heaven” in Mandarin, as a way to celebrate her “miracle birth.”
The baby made global headlines after being born via C-section Oct. 25, 2019, at Zaozhuang Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital in east China, where Tian formerly worked as a pediatrician.
But the daughter’s birth wasn’t initially considered a “gift” to everyone in the family.
The couple’s adult son and daughter — both in their 40s with children of their own — threatened to abandon their mother when they found out she was pregnant.
“When my children found out I was pregnant, both of them hoped I would have an abortion. My daughter even said she would cut ties with me if I went through with the pregnancy,” Tian shared.
“I didn’t want this either. Why would I want another child at this age? But she happened, and test results were positive, so we considered her a gift from heaven,” she continued.
Tian was even told by doctors to terminate the pregnancy for her own health, but insisted on going through with the “accidental” pregnancy, according to 7 News.
But Tian admitted to the outlet at the time of the birth that though her other children protested, the new daughter was accepted into the family.
“They all like her very much,” she told the outlet. “We’re a happy family. I don’t want to listen to what others say.”
The mother of three also has two grandchildren — one who is 18 and starting university and another in secondary school.
Tian admitted that she struggled with this pregnancy and that it was nothing like her first two since she was young then.
“It was painful, far too painful. It hurt so much, I couldn’t keep my eyes open,” she said.
China had a two-child policy from 2016 to 2021, when it changed its law to legally allow people to have a third kid.
Tianci was born when the two-child policy was still in place. Those with more than two children during this policy typically faced consequences for breaking the rule.
“We did not mean to violate the law. I will suggest an administrative review or launch a lawsuit if I am fined for this,” Huang told local media.
Pictures of the older couple at their child’s third birthday party at a local restaurant have been going around the internet, and they’ve faced criticism. People have expressed concern over their ability to care for the young child given their age and physical condition.
But the senior couple insists they can do it, and Tian claims to not have experienced any physical symptoms, like hypertension, since the pregnancy.
Huang admitted that having a new baby was tiring and they didn’t get much sleep between feeding and changing diapers.
Despite the criticism, the couple has felt “very lucky” in the presence of their daughter and said she makes them feel younger.
“She was already saying ‘dad’ at four and a half months of age. We feel 20 years younger than before our daughter was born,” Huang said.
A pregnancy is considered geriatric when you’re pregnant at 35 or older, according to Cleveland Clinic.
According to 2020 data on births by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 995 births to women aged 50 and older — down from 1,073 births in 2019.
