61-Year-Old's Pregnancy Stirs Up Controversy in Brazil

A 61-year-old Brazilian woman has stirred controversy after becoming pregnant with her much-younger husband, AFP reported on Monday.

The woman in question is post-menopausal and married to a man who is 38. She became pregnant with a donor egg and asked not to be publicly named. She is due in November.

"I had already gone through menopause ... My husband wanted to be a father. I wanted to be a mother too. I am in great health ... and I have undergone a very thorough medical clearance," she told O Globo newspaper.

She said she did not plan to tell her future daughter about her having used a donor egg to become pregnant.

It is not Brazil's first late-in-life pregnancy. As recently as September 9, a 52-year-old woman whose husband is 88 became a first-time mother of twins.

Brazilian health officials say they are concerned about a wave of late-in-life pregnancies, which can put great strain on and harm some older mothers' bodies.

There is currently no age limit for artificial insemination but doctors are not supposed to proceed if there would be grave risks for the mother or child.