World's oldest natural mother at 59

From HNN London Bureau

A British housewife has become the world's oldest natural mother after giving birth at the age of 59, breaking the previous global record for a pregnancy by two years. Dawn Brooke gave birth to a healthy boy without any fertility treatment only 12 months before she became eligible for her old age pension, the Daily Mail reported on Monday, quoting her 74-year-old husband Raymond as saying.

In fact, her husband, a former company director, said the couple had kept the 1997 birth private for a decade to let their son grow up in peace. But, he spoke for the first time yesterday about their delight at having a child so late.

"People are generally not quite aware of the extreme good luck we had at our age. We're overjoyed to have our son. We've been hugely fortunate. He's such a fantastic boy," Brooke was quoted as saying. The youngster has been brought up at the couple's one million pound home on Guernsey and attends school on the Channel Island.

Relatives of the boy - who is ten on Monday- said he's extremely bright and particularly enjoys maths. But like most children his age he is also a big fan of Harry Potter, a passion he shares with his father. Brooke married his London-born wife a few weeks before their son was born by caesarean section at a Guernsey hospital on August 20, 1997. "When we moved in they came round for a children's party, and everyone assumed that Mrs Brooke was the grandmother.

But they are devoted to their son and very active. They seem far younger than their age," the couple's neighbour Marina Bourgaize told the daily. It may be mentioned that the earlier world record for the oldest natural birth was held by Ruth Kistler, who had a daughter in Los Angeles in 1956 aged 57.