Turning parents in 70s

They must be of grandparental age but Amritsar-based couple Mohinder Singh Gill and Daljinder Kaur are enjoying their brand new status of parenthood, a wish they had been nurturing for 46 long years. Now, with their two-month-old Armaan — meaning ‘wish’ — everything else has become trivial. Their whole world is revolving around the little bundle of joy. This journalist had to talk to the 72-year-old mom over phone between interruptions and apologies as the baby was crying and she had to constantly soothe him.

Baby Armaan shot the aged couple to international fame as Kaur gave birth to him at an age that defied nature’s rules. It was three years ago that the childless couple opted for an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. Despite two failed attempts, they were determined to go forward till they succeed. And when the baby came, media from all around the world came in search of them; such kind of attention was quite unexpected. There were criticisms too.

“We honestly don’t know how people came to know about it. We never wanted the public to know. This is about us and our happiness,” says Singh.

However, the couple owe it all to Dr Anurag Bishnoi, the owner of the National Fertility and Test Tube Baby Centre, Hisar. “They approached us three years ago. They were very hopeful to have a child despite their age. We are happy to have helped them,” says Anurag.

Kaur is all praise for the team. “The doctors were extremely supportive. They took care of us like anything. Even our relatives wouldn’t have given us such kind of support or care,” says Daljinder.

And like any new mom, she too has her own share of insecurities and complaints — that so much attention from the media and the public was making the baby sick. A tinge of uneasiness was pretty evident in their voice, frail with age.

Asked whether they had any support from relatives to take care of their son, she says, “We are totally capable of taking care of our baby. It’s our own happiness and we do not need a third person to look after our child. And we have our doctors; we can approach them anytime,” Kaur says. As the baby’s cries were heard, she apologised again and signed off to their little happy world.