For the love of kids

New Zealand's oldest mother, Lyn Mason, and her husband Ian tell Denise Irvine how they cope with their young family and other people's curiosity.

It's a few days before Celine Mason's birthday, and when asked what she'd like as a present, she replies promptly, "a little pony".

This is not of the four-legged, ride-on variety, but the brand of My Little Pony toys popular with girls, and Celine would like to add another one to her collection. She fishes in the toy cupboard and shows some of her favourites.

Big brother Dean, 8, had his birthday in July, and he got a Star Wars Lego set that he's obviously had hours of pleasure from.

Both the Mason kids have a light sabre, and they've recently been to a dress-up Star Wars disco at Hukanui Primary. "Some big people were dressed up in Star Wars costumes," says Dean. "They looked real."

Dean and Celine cuddle up to their mother Lyn for a photograph in their pleasant home in Hamilton's northern suburbs. The years since they were born seemed to have flashed by, and yesterday Celine celebrated her sixth birthday. There's nothing particularly remarkable about that. Except that Lyn was 55 when she gave birth to her daughter, and 53 when she had Dean.

Lyn made history as New Zealand's oldest mother, and both children were conceived by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), with their father Ian's sperm and donor eggs from a family friend. Although several women overseas have been reported to have given birth in their 50s, 60s and 70s, to the best of everyone's knowledge, Lyn holds the New Zealand record.

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/features/waikato-focus/4219850/For-the-love-of-kids

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