LATER LIFE mums
‘I gave birth with a donor embryo’
Carolyne Ness, 62, gave birth to her son, Javed, when she was 58. Originally from Fife, Scotland, Carolyne and Javed now live in Sydney, Australia.
Some 24 years after I started trying for a baby, I heard the words I had longed for. ‘You are pregnant’, confirmed my doctor. I placed a protective hand over my stomach as she reminded me I was an older mum with an extremely high-risk pregnancy.
‘I thought I was too old, but a miracle happened’
I spent my 20s travelling, returned to Fife when I was 30, and met a man I’d later marry and try to have children with. But, we were eventually told we had unexplained infertility. It was a crushing disappointment that tore us apart. Divorcing when I was 40, I settled in Sydney, Australia, and worked as a receptionist, but never met anyone I could imagine starting a family with.
‘I’m a
