# Is Elizabeth Edwards decision to become pregnant at age 50 with donated eggs A-OK ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033 "2004-10-30T16:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/1 "2004-10-30T16:48:17Z")
Per articel below Elizabeth Edwards (Democratic VP candidate John Edwards wife) used donated eggs to become pregnant and make biological babies at age 48 and 50. Is it really fair to kids for men or women to be deliberately pumping them out at age 50? You mom and dad will be 68 when you’re 18. That’s just a little oogy IMO. [Did Elizabeth Edwards Use Donor Eggs? All signs point to yes.](http://slate.msn.com/id/2108863/) > [@](#): > > During the past several months, the image has flickered into our homes with increasing regularity: Following the end of a campaign-trail speech, little Emma Claire Edwards, 6, and Jack Edwards, 4—both blond and cherubic—joyfully run up to the stage where their dad, Sen. John Edwards, 51, scoops them into his arms. Standing nearby beaming, always, is Elizabeth Edwards, 55. > > Do the math, and it’s not hard to figure out that Edwards gave birth to Emma Claire at age 48 and Jack at 50. And yet if Edwards used her own eggs, this is all but impossible—a woman’s ovaries completely stop producing viable eggs by age 45 in all but a tiny percentage of women. > > Edwards has publicly stated that she “used fertility treatments” and “took hormone shots” in order to have Emma Claire and Jack. (She wouldn’t comment for this story.) That doesn’t really explain much since any fertility expert will tell you that “taking hormone shots” is part of nearly all high-tech fertility treatments used today. (Click here to read more about these treatments.) But Edwards has refused to get specific; a July Chicago Tribune story quoted her as saying she won’t discuss the details of her infertility because “it’s not ladylike.” This comment stood in sharp contrast to the Edwards we’ve seen on the campaign trail, a woman who’s candid and fun and not at all the prim political wife we’ve grown accustomed to in the last four years. ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/2 "2004-10-30T17:01:06Z")
I don’t think it’s oogy, but it is a bit of a bummer for the kid IMO. I have a great relationship with my parents and I really want them to be there when I get married and begin raising a family. I want them to get to know their future grand kids. Unfortunately the odds of being able enjoy that kind family life is lessened by having kids at such a late age. Makes me a little sad to think about it actually. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not passing a moral judgement here. I don’t think what she did was “wrong” - just not ideal. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/3 "2004-10-30T17:53:26Z")
If they wanted the children and worked to get them via fertility, or adoption, or surrogacy, good for them. They’re entitled to do whatever they like. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/4 "2004-10-30T18:06:41Z")
The Edwardses had an older son who died in a car accident (I think he was about 18). It was after that that they decided to have more children. I don’t think it really impacts the ethics of the situation - it doesn’t bother me either way as long as they took all the precautions they could - but it might be worth knowing. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/5 "2004-10-30T19:14:02Z")
Not only do I not think it’s oogy, I don’t think it’s anyone’s business but the Edwardses. As long as they are good parents who treat their children well (and I don’t think anyone doubts that), society has no place to question their actions. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/6 "2004-10-30T19:34:24Z")
I think it’s fine. Having kids older in life is not something I’d do myself, simply because I want to be young and playful when they are, and have time in my life “kid-free” once their grown to enjoy retirement and whatnot. From looking at them though, the Edwardses seem in great shape, and I don’t doubt that they do their fair share of running around with those kids. And, like a few others, I just don’t think it anyone else’s business. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/7 "2004-10-30T20:53:38Z")
You could just as easily argue that it’s unfair for an egg to exist that isn’t fertilized. And then there’s the whole “Every sperm is sacred” hootenanny. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/8 "2004-10-30T21:17:24Z")
It’s perfectly fine and it’s nobody’s business but their’s. So they’re going to be in their seventies when he or she is an adult… so what? Plenty of parents die when the kid’s not even one yet. If someone is at risk of early death, should \*they \*not be able to reproduce? Or is this simply because they’re donated eggs? Do you have problems with adoption? ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/9 "2004-10-30T21:38:17Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Plenty of parents die when the kid’s not even one yet. If someone is at risk of early death, should \*they \*not be able to reproduce? Or is this simply because they’re donated eggs? Do you have problems with adoption? Assuming this may have been addressed at me: I’d hate to think that my previous post gave you the impression that I believed any of these things. However, I certainly think that it is a great shame when a child’s parents die while he is still fairly young- I know it would certainly be devastating to me. But again, I don’t think Edwards did anything morally wrong- not at all. It was simply a gut reaction- I imagined how elderly my parents would be right now if they had had me when they were 50- and the thought sent a chill up my spine. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/10 "2004-10-30T21:43:32Z")
Women her age have children “the old fashioned way” everyday at hospitals all over the world. I don’t see any moral irresponsibility, plus I think it was a good to decision to have _two_ children so that the child will have same age companionship. Plus, both Ma & Pa Edwards look younger than their 50-something years, so they’re obviously healthy and in good shape for raising children. Prior to modern birth control, 50+ fathers and 40+ mothers were far more common than they are today and there didn’t seem to be any major social problems resulting. I find the decisions of men like Tony Randall, Anthony Quinn, Saul Bellow, James Doohan, etc. (all men who became fathers after 77 by much much younger women) much more “oogy”. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/11 "2004-10-30T22:01:10Z")
> [@Israfel](#): > > Assuming this may have been addressed at me: > > I’d hate to think that my previous post gave you the impression that I believed any of these things. However, I certainly think that it is a great shame when a child’s parents die while he is still fairly young- I know it would certainly be devastating to me. > > But again, I don’t think Edwards did anything morally wrong- not at all. It was simply a gut reaction- I imagined how elderly my parents would be right now if they had had me when they were 50- and the thought sent a chill up my spine. No, it was in reply to the OP. While I agree with you that it would suck to lose your parents at too young an age, neither you nor I put any sort of moral or ethical qualifiers on our statements. astro did, by asking if it would be “fair” and that is what I was commenting on. I apologize for not being more clear. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/12 "2004-10-30T22:12:31Z")
My OP has pretty much been answered, but I do wonder about your assertion - > [@Sampiro](#): > > Women her age have children “the old fashioned way” everyday at hospitals all over the world. I don’t know where you get the datam that > [@](#): > > “Women her age (50 years olf) have children “the old fashioned way” everyday at hospitals all over the world” . It’s my understanding that the odds of 50 year old woman getting pregnant “naturally”, and carrying a child to term are extraordinarily small. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/13 "2004-10-30T23:25:21Z")
> [@astro](#): > > My OP has pretty much been answered, but I do wonder about your assertion - > > I don’t know where you get the datam that . It’s my understanding that the odds of 50 year old woman getting pregnant “naturally”, and carrying a child to term are extraordinarily small. Not really. There are numerous articles available through NIH about women over fifty becoming pregnant; one is a study of nine pregnant women over fifty who conceived naturally just among Asian Muslim immigrants to the U.S. [[cite](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1426511&dopt=Abstract)]. There are many many risks in a naturally conceived pregnancy that age and mothers over 50 account for less than 1% of childbirths in a given year (though mothers over 40 account for an increasing number of births, about 5% according to some studies), but it does occur (and it only has to occur to 365 of the 1 billion+ fertile women in the world to make my statement true). The oldest women to give birth to children conceived naturally verified by reliable science have been 57, incidentally. Women older than that who were impregnated by donor eggs have been recorded, the oldest being a 65 year old in India. (Actress Beverly D’Angelo recently gave birth to twins fathered by Al Pacino; she was 50, though I’m not sure if they were conceived naturally.) On a sidenote, a close friend who worked in a women’s clinic told me that the women most anxious for abortions are often women over 45 who have grown children and grandchildren and had no idea they were still even capable of getting pregnant as they thought they were no longer menstruating. One lady was 50ish, unmarried, devoutly religious and had picketed the clinic before but was 100% emphatic that she wanted the abortion, no ifs ands or buts. She promised to never protest clinics or pro-choice issues again and kept her word. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/14 "2004-10-31T00:45:41Z")
Why is it anybody’s business whether the eggs were “donated” or not? Would it be more moral if she was able to produce her own eggs at that age through a fluke of her personal biology? ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/15 "2004-10-31T03:15:21Z")
When I saw my doctor recently for my “female exam” I told her I was ready to be done with that stuff, meaning my periods, etc. She told me that women don’t typically go through menopause until after 50. I don’t see that it’s so impossible for Mrs. Edwards to have conceived with her own eggs. I would think it might be statistically unlikely for it to have happened twice without some intervention, but she says she had fertility treatments. It’s my understanding that the purpose of those treatments, at least sometimes, is to cause ova to mature and the ovaries to release them. If that’s what happened in this case it seems to be entirely possible for the Edwards children to have been conceived with their mother’s own eggs. And if those eggs were harvested and fertilized in a lab before being returned to her, wouldn’t that reduce the risk? I mean couldn’t they be tested beforehand to see if they were viable? And in any case, who cares? As long as they plan to care for and provide for the children, it’s nobody’s business but theirs. I might be a bit biased here, but my father was almost 51 when I was born and he never seemed to have a problem with being the father of small children. I remember racing him from the garage at the back of the lot to the house when I was 4. I think he let me win. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/16 "2004-10-31T12:00:36Z")
> [@astro](#): > > It’s my understanding that the odds of 50 year old woman getting pregnant “naturally”, and carrying a child to term are extraordinarily small. A co-worker of mine, over 50, got pregnant as she began menopause. This was a surprise but she carried the child to term. Another friend got pregnant at 45 (another surprise!) and now has a 7 year old. I turned 50 yesterday and am still ovulating (I’ve always been able to feel this)but recently it did indeed become irregular. I can definitely see why most women over 45 would not want to become pregnant (I sure don’t), but can also understand the Edwards’ situation. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/17 "2004-11-01T18:04:49Z")
In a normal family such old parenting would be potentially ‘unfair’ to the children. As they would be still very young adults when they needed to start looking after their parents. To put such financial and psychological strains on your children is not a nice thing to do. But in a large enough family, or with enough money that the burdens on the children can be minimized, it will not be such a bad thing. The biggest downside seems to be that the children’s children will quite possibly never meet their grandparents. But that is something that can often happen in a family no matter how young the parents are when they have their children. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/18 "2004-11-01T18:07:17Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > In a normal family such old parenting would be potentially ‘unfair’ to the children. As they would be still very young adults when they needed to start looking after their parents. To put such financial and psychological strains on your children is not a nice thing to do. But in a large enough family, or with enough money that the burdens on the children can be minimized, it will not be such a bad thing. Edwards’s wealth is estimated in the eight figure range, so they’ve got that one covered. > [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > The biggest downside seems to be that the children’s children will quite possibly never meet their grandparents. Been there done that. Overrated. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/19 "2004-11-01T18:53:50Z")
Since men can become fathers in their dottage–Paul McCartney and Tony Randall among others–why can’t woman become mothers? If not, what should be the cut off age when people are “too old” to parent? ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033/20 "2004-11-01T19:31:40Z")
I think it’s a shame that there is such a stigma against Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) that she doesn’t feel that she can necessarily discuss it - but on the other hand, needing help to get pregnant is hard (and no, not all of us needed hormone shots - I took hormonal treatments, and could have gotten them in shot form). And the failures day after day or week after week (depending on what’s not going on) are heartbreaking. Maybe it’s the stigma of talking about infertility or recurrent miscarriage or other problems. Maybe it just is hard to talk about, and too personal to share. Though I’ve explored what small things we went through (if you measure from free sex through ART with PGD as the scale) a bit in my private and mostly-private online journalling … I haven’t discussed it substantially with anyone else. But I’ve given advice, I’ve given support - I hit a comfort level that’s fine for me. Sounds like she’s hit one that’s fine for her. And maybe, in a few years, she’ll be more comfortable with talking about it - if not to the teeming lurkers, then at least to her children, who one day may go through the same thing. As for the question of her using donated eggs or not - so what? Would people be bitching like this if the kids were adopted and she got hormone shots to stimulate her milk glands? Your kid that you raise is your kid, genetics be damned. It just sounds like another way to stir up people against these “unnatural” “unreligous” people running for president/vice president because there isn’t any substatial reasons **not to vote for him or just abstain from voting altogether**. Just another way to feed the FUD machine. 11:59pm Nov 2, where are you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-elizabeth-edwards-decision-to-become-pregnant-at-age-50-with-donated-eggs-a-ok/272033.md?page=2)