A 59-year-old British woman hopes to become a mum for the second time after a London-based fertility clinic agreed to offer her IVF treatment to help her conceive.
Susan Tollefsen, who turns 60 in October, is the oldest person to be offered fertility treatment by a British clinic in a move which overturns guidelines on treating women aged over 50.
"I'm still so full of life and healthy at 60, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be treated," she told The Mail on Sunday.
The London Women's Clinic has offered to help Tollefsen, who at 57 gave birth to her first child in 2008 after seeking fertility treatment in Russia.
Her daughter Freya was born after doctors in Moscow created an embryo from sperm donated by Tollefsen's 48-year-old partner, Nick Mayer, and a donor egg.
British government guidelines say GPs should not recommend IVF to women over 40, while private clinics do not treat women who are aged over 50 because of health concerns.
But the newspaper said staff at the London Women's Clinic voted unanimously last Thursday in favour of treating Tollefsen, a retired teacher.
"I emailed so many British clinics asking to be treated here but they all said no because I was too old and didn't offer me a consultation," she said.
"But the doctor I saw gave me hope. The clinic said they'd have a look if I definitely wanted to go ahead."
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has called for parliament to intervene and announce new laws setting an upper age limit for IVF.
"Once you pass the point of natural conception, that's when you should stop," she told the newspaper.
"We need to legislate for this because, inevitably, society will have to pick up the cost later."
Front page
RSS Feed