Quadruplets at age 65 sounds like a bit of a nightmare to me. Kids need parents, and if you are on the sunset side of life, it’s quite literally harder to be there for your family. But let me just say this, I don’t begrudge this woman her large family. Neither do I get particularly animated because she is a grandmother’s age. To me, the underlying problem is the ethos of “having children when we want them” through IVF. I understand that we mostly all have this idea that children are choices–and we get ’em when we want ’em, but the underlying principle of my worldview for absolutely everyone, 65, 35, gay or straight, etc. is that IVF is not the best option. I realize this is a painful thing to say for some. My reasons are as follows: There are risks associated with it; if the parts are not your own, it commercializes families and even when the parts are your own, there are still risks associated with it. I also confess I want to be consistent. If I’m not a fan of IVF for a 65 year old grandmother, what is the principle behind that if I’m OK with it for myself, or my friends? Who chooses the boundaries? Why this family and not that family? I prefer consistency, so I rule it out for everyone, including myself. The reality is that without IVF, this grandmother would not be having quadruplets. And then we wouldn’t need to worry about all the other associated risks.
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