| Carmen Bousada | |
|---|---|
| Born | María del Carmen Bousada January 5, 1940 Cádiz, Spain |
| Died | July 11, 2009 (aged 69) El Puerto de Santa María, Spain |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Known for | World's Oldest Mother |
| Children | Pau Bousada, Christian Bousada |
María del Carmen Bousada de Lara (January 5, 1940 – July 11, 2009) was a Spanish woman who gained worldwide attention when she became the world's oldest mother on December 29, 2006.[1] She later became an outspoken advocate for the rights of older mothers and a subject of considerable controversy.[2]
The twin baby boys, Christian and Pau, were delivered prematurely by caesarean section and weighed 3.5 lb (1.6 kg) each.
Bousada de Lara admitted that she had lied to physicians about her age when seeking in vitro fertilization treatment at a clinic in California. At the time of the delivery, Bousada was the world's oldest documented mother. She eclipsed the record established in 2005 by Romanian mother Adriana Iliescu, who was also 66.[3] Two years later, Omkari Panwar, a 70 year-old woman from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh gave birth to twins. However; Panwar's age cannot be officially documented.[4]
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Bousada died of stomach cancer on July 11, 2009, when her sons were two and a half years old.
Critics of later-late motherhood characterized Bousada's decision to have children as "selfish, unnatural and wrong, her children innocent victims in her pernicious plan for reproductive self-gratification."[5] Her own brothers publicly criticized her decision.[6] Bousada herself vehemently defended her decision. At the time of the birth, she stated, "Everyone has to have children at the right time for them. This was the right time for me. It was something I always dreamed of."[7] In an interview in 2006 she stated, that her mother had reached an age of 101 and that therefore she expects a good chance to bring up her children and perhaps even to see her grandchildren.