Mum who gave birth via IVF at 64 loses custody of twins

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A Spanish woman who gave birth to twins aged 64 has lost custody of them after a court ruled she couldn’t look after them properly.

Officials said the children were “in a clear situation of vulnerability” in the care of their mother, identified only by the first name Mauricia.

IVF-mum-Mauricia-Ibanez-loses-custody

69 year old IVF mum, Mauricia Ibanez, loses custody of twins

She gave birth to the twins, who are now four, after travelling to the United States for assisted reproduction treatment.

Mauricia said: “Being able to have children at an older age is not a gift it’s an ability.”

However, shortly afterwards, social services assumed guardianship of the babies, coming to the conclusion that they were at risk.

She was allowed to keep in contact with the twins on the condition she was closely monitored by social services.

But they decided she was not following their advice closely enough and decided to remove them permanently.

Mauricia challenged the move but her appeal was rejected by the Family Court, the provincial court and now by the Supreme Court, which ordered them to be placed in foster care because of a lack of proper protection with their current mother.

The Spanish Supreme court ruling ends a four-year legal battle in the city of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon, in the north-west of the country.

According to national newspaper ABC, the court found that the twins were “in a clear situation of vulnerability” due to their mother’s inability to care for them properly.

But it insisted the decision to remove them was not because of her age or mental health.

Instead, the court said the decision was because of “the indicators of the risk of minors and given the difficulties of the mother shown for some time”.

The kids were not kept in “optimal conditions” and the woman also did not have a social support network or a family to help, officials added.

Speaking to national news outlet Telecinco, Mauricia insisted the court was wrong as the babies were always better with their mother.

She added that the case was all about what was best for the kids, not for her.

However, the mother has exhausted her options for now after the most recent ruling.

The court heard during the hearing how Mauricia has another daughter, also through assisted reproduction, now 11, who lives in Canada.

She was also ruled unfit to care for that child in a ruling in 2014 and she was then taken into foster care.

According to ABC, the court said she is allowed to appeal again every two years, although “they do not predict a different outcome in the short term”.

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Categories: Child Custody, Child Custody, Child Removals, Donor-Conceived Children, Elderly, in a clear situation of vulnerability, In Vitro Fertilisation, Legal Proceedings, Reproductive Medical Assistance, Residency
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