Monk

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MADRID, Spain: A 67-year-old Spanish woman became the world's oldest mother after she gave birth to twins in the northern city of Barcelona on Saturday, a hospital official said.

The woman, whose identity has not been revealed by Sant Pau hospital, gave birth by caesarian section on Saturday having previously undergone in vitro fertilization in the United States, according to the national news agency EFE.

-- The Associated Press

Isn't this a little like giving birth to orphans?

I suppose it must be a rich family, and they want to spread the wealth to blood. That is the only way this makes sense to me.

I hope this record is not a contest. It is not exactly like breaking the record for running the mile.

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“When it came to trying to decide which theories of child-rearing were highly beneficial and which were absolutely ruinous to the future of your child — a subject of considerable discussion among some parents we knew — we agreed on a simple notion: your children are either the center of your life or they’re not, and the rest is commentary.”

At one point, Alice was working at a camp for children with genetic disorders. She wondered how one child, L., could be so cheerful, even though she neither grew nor could digest food. Then she saw a letter from L.’s mother: “If God had given us all of the children in the world to choose from, L., we would only have chosen you.” Alice pulled aside Trillin: “Quick. Read this. It’s the secret of life.”

-- David Brooks for The New York Times

Mr. Brooks is promoting some essays, and the above quote comes from one by Calvin Trillin writing about his late wife, Alice.

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