Mum-Of-Thirteen Pregnant Again With Quadruplets At Age 65 Sparks Fury

The news that a 65-year-old German mother is pregnant again has led to fierce debate in the country. Writer Jan Rübel analyses the issue.

Annegret Raunigk, from Berlin, is the woman who has divided Germany. A teacher of English and Russian, she will soon be retiring. And she is pregnant.

Pregnant at age 65. [Figaro]

She knows all about having children - she has thirteen already. But her latest pregnancy came about via a method which is banned in Germany – egg donation. 

Strident criticism of Raunigk’s decision seems to be the prevailing attitude. Several top government health ministers have waded in and stated that this should not become the norm – i.e. just because something is medically possible does not mean it should be done. Social media is treating her with mockery and contempt.

So how did this all happen? Raunigk, at 65, is past the menopause, hence the need for a donated egg. While this practice is banned in Germany, it is perfectly legal in other countries. In Ukraine, to where Raunigk travelled for the procedure, many hospitals charge up to 5,300 dollars for the privilege.

 

Those procedures can be very risky, since they can endanger the health of the egg donors, the (potentially) pregnant women and the unborn babies. Many things can go wrong. Germany therefore believes that ‘egg trading’ should be prevented at all costs.

Medical innovation is treated with extreme caution

There is a simple reason for this rigid attitude - the Third Reich. Horrifying medical experiments were carried out on humans and many physically and mentally disabled people were murdered under the guise of charitable euthanasia. This is why Germany today is quick to raise concerns over technological and medical innovations of this kind. Perhaps other countries can take a more impartial view on the topic.

But the debate around the Raunigk case uncovers other issues as well. It has become clear how conservative and unprogressive the prevailing attitude is. In a nutshell, people say she is being selfish, since, at 65, she will not be able to spend enough of her lifetime with her children. They say she is out of touch with reality, underestimating the burden of taking care of quadruplets, especially for a woman who is a grandmother's age. Reports have even emerged that Raunigk’s 10-year-old daughter has been picked on because her mother is so much older.

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