60-year-old new mom says she is ready to raise her child

A 60-year-old woman who successfully gave birth in late July following fertilization treatment in the U.S. says she is ready to take on the challenge of raising her child, sources close to her said Tuesday.

She is believed to be the oldest woman to give birth in Japan.

“With childbirth, I made half of the journey,” the woman reportedly said after the birth of her first child at a hospital in Tokyo. “I realize that the long road of child rearing will be a difficult one.”

The woman also indicated that she is blessed with an atmosphere of support from her husband and the people around her, the sources said.

Describing her child as a “godsend,” the new mother reportedly said she clearly remembers the warmth she felt from her first contact with her baby in the delivery room.

According to the sources, the woman married in her mid-50s and had hoped, along with her husband, for a child. But she was met with extreme resistance by Japanese doctors, leading her to seek assistance in the United States.

She underwent in vitro fertilization using her husband’s sperm and a young Asian donor’s ova, then gave birth at a hospital affiliated with Jikei University in Minato Ward, the sources said.

“Not just anyone in my age group goes through childbirth and the matter should not be taken lightly,” she said in answer to criticism that those in their 50s and older are susceptible to health problems and are more typically involved in taking care of elderly parents.

But the sources added that she believes there are other people like her who are healthy and still able to give birth.

“I think it is fine to approve of childbirth in cases where people receive help from advances in medical technology,” she reportedly said.