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Originally Posted by The_Jazz
NG - maybe and in all probability are two different things. My next door neighbor (until about 2 years ago) was 85 when he died after falling off a slippery rock in a rain storm on a 12 mile hike. He wasn't on any medication at all. His wife, in the years before she died, took about 40 pills a day because of their illnesses. My point is that individuals are exactly that - individuals. You can no more tell me that either parent in this story are going to contract any condition than I can predict who will win a horse race.
Is this a high-risk pregnancy? Absolutely. Could it have long-reaching health effects on the mother? Absolutely? Does it mean she'll develop Alzheimers, diabetes or high blood pressure? No. Does it say anything about the health of the father? No. Does it say anything about the support system they have in place? No.
I agree that the 6-year old was IVF. There's really no question that the twins are.
My cousin cannot stand on his own and has never held his youngest child other than in his lap. There's no way that he can care for them on his own. So, is he selfish? If he's not, is there a double standard for men and women?
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I misunderstood, thinking the cousin was a woman going thru it, but no, he is not selfish; I'd say it's a fine line, but a line nonetheless. This couple had to literally purchase this pregnancy because of their advanced age. Also, they're parents of two adults, a young boy and now infants-this wasn't a case of someone who had to wait for medical science to catch up to a desire to have a family(something I had to do, incidently). More, this would appear to be a case of 'we're rich, we like kids, let's make a couple more and see what happens To hell with being old'.
The double standard, if there is one, is pretty clearcut-women go through menopause, a literal dying off of eggs and shutting down of the reproductive system. It's connection with the body as a whole is pretty obvious. Men, while they may experience diminished fertility, remain mostly fertile all their lives. It's just natural-they aren't the ones who have to bear the children, so their bodies don't have to 'shut down'.
I don't advocate either gender getting into parenthood so late, or even by my age, but that's not my decision to place that opinion on others. I just have this "Don't these people think ahead??" thing.....the most well-known late parent would probably be Tony Randall, whose first child was born when he was about 77-he died about 5-6 years later.