Greek 67-year-old grandma becomes oldest surrogate mother

Greek doctors helped a 67-year-old woman carry her daughter's child as surrogate mother, making her the oldest such case worldwide, the Greek national news agency AMNA reported on Thursday.

The Greek woman is now the oldest surrogate mother and grandmother in the world to carry a pregnancy due to hysterectomy in the international literature, according to obstetrician-gynaecologist Constantine Pantos who supervised the procedure.

Until this week, a 61-year-old woman from Chicago in the U.S. held the title, according to the report.

Anastasia Ontou gave birth to her own grandchild as a surrogate mother on Tuesday, carrying her daughter's child after a serious illness prevented the younger woman from becoming pregnant, the doctor announced in Athens.

The baby girl weighing one kilo and 20 grammes is in excellent health, as well as her grandmother.

The pregnancy was carried to the 31st week, with the IVF and transfer of the embryo conducted by Pantos and his team with permission from Greek judicial authorities, the report said.

Under Greek laws, a court order is needed in order for an embryo created with genetic material from a couple to be implanted in a surrogate mother that is willing and able to carry the pregnancy. The couple must present the findings of medical examinations proving an inability to have children.

"For us, this case was yet another major scientific challenge and one more frontier we wanted to cross," Pantos told reporters. Endit