Adriana Iliescu
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Adriana Iliescu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 May 1938 |
| Occupations | University teacher, philologist, writer |
| Children | Eliza Maria (b. 2005) |
Adriana Iliescu (born 31 May 1938) is a media personality, Romanian retired university teacher, philologist and author of children's novels. She received international media attention in early 2005[1][2][3][4][5], when she gave birth to daughter Eliza at age 66, making her the oldest birth mother in the world until this record was broken in 2006 by María del Carmen Bousada de Lara. Eliza, who was delivered at Giuleşti Maternity Hospital in Bucharest on 16 January 2005, is Iliescu's biological (but not genetic) child, since she gestated in Iliescu's womb but was conceived by an ovum and sperm donated anonymously.[1][2][3]
Iliescu was first given hormone treatment to reverse menopause in 1995 and in vitro fertilisation (three zygotes with sperm and ovum from two anonymous donors) in 2004, becoming pregnant with triplets. After ten weeks, one of the three fetuses failed to progress and died. The remaining two fetuses, both girls, weighed just 1.45 kilograms (3.19 pounds) and 0.69 kilograms (1.54 pounds) after 33 weeks of pregnancy, but after complications the smaller of the two died in the womb. Though doctors were expecting to perform a caesarian section soon after the 34th week, the death of one of the twins led to the decision to operate earlier than planned. The surviving baby was expected to remain in hospital for six weeks.[4]
