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Level 2 – Pre-intermediate
Grandma mum has brother's baby
In July 2001 Jeanine, a 62-year-old Frenchwoman, became the mother of a baby boy. She was too old to have children naturally, and anyway In France it is illegal for older women like Jeanine to have babies. But doctors in a Los Angeles clinic helped her to have the baby. The genetic mother was an American woman, and the father of the baby boy is Jeanine's own brother – Robert, aged 52. So Jeanine is really the child's aunt! But she is legally its mother. Robert is really the baby's father, but he is legally only its uncle!
Jeanine said that she had her brother's child because she wanted to continue the family name. She didn't understand why people were shocked, and said that she would be a better mother than many young people today. Her brother is blind and partially handicapped and he didn't have a partner. She said that it would not have been possible for him to have had a child any other way.
In fact, there were two babies. When they were in Los Angeles, a surrogate mother carried a baby girl for Robert. So the two babies are genetically brother and sister!
Many people say that we need international laws to stop this. In America it is not illegal for old women to have babies. However, many people think that the doctors are to blame because they do it for money. These two babies cost $150,000.
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C2 Mastery
