A 65-year-old mother has just revealed she is pregnant with quads.

She has is 65, has 13 children and it has just been revealed that she is pregnant with quads.

The debate about how old is too old to have children is set to fire up again today with the news that a 65-year old woman from Germany is pregnant with quads.

Annegret Raunigk is reportedly 21-weeks pregnant-  which will make her the oldest recorded woman in the world ever to give birth to quadruplets.

Germany’s RTL broadcaster which has an interview with the mother set to air tonight says the 65-year old became pregnant after several attempts abroad at artificial insemination over the last year-and-a-half.

Her youngest child, who is nine now, was said to be the inspiration behind the pregnancy, as she wanted to have a little brother or sister.

“Certainly that was a shock for me. After the doctor discovered there were four, I had to give it some thought to begin with,”

“On the scan it was just clear to see.”

She was posed the question as to whether she wanted to reduce the number of embryos but says she did not see selective reduction as being an option for her.

Annegret Raunigk made headlines in Germany when she gave birth to her now nine-year old daughter at the age of 55 who was conceived naturally.

She told Bild at the time “At first, I only wanted one child”

“Not all were planned, but then things happen. I’m not a planner, but rather spontaneous … and children keep me young.”

Her brood now includes 13 children with five different fathers, and seven grandchildren.

Her decision to fall pregnant again at the age of 65 is destined to be a controversial one. She told The Daily Mail “I always find it very aggravating that one has to fulfill certain clichés.”

“I think that one has to decide for oneself, stick to one’s opinion and not allow oneself to be influenced too much by others.”

But many, many others have their opinions, which we have seen with other well-publicized older mother cases.

In 2005 Adriana Iliescu made headlines when she gave birth to daughter Eliza at age 65.

She too was expecting multiples – with her in vitro fertilization from an anonymous sperm donor producing triplets.

At ten weeks one of the three fetuses failed to progress and died. At 33 weeks a second died in the womb.

At 34 weeks she gave birth to her surviving infant, who was born weighing just 1.4kg.

She came under fierce scrutiny at the time with debate about the morality of having a child at her age.

She was called selfish for the decision. One writer saying it was “nothing but an elaborate, expensive and grotesque form of adoption”

She told The Daily Mail when Eliza was five “It is not easy being a mother at my age, I would advise my daughter to have a child before 30. But, if she doesn’t, I believe a woman should try to have a baby at any age.

In 2009 María del Carmen Bousada de Lara a Spanish woman gave birth to twin boys at the age of 67.  She too came under heavy criticism. Sadly the Spanish mother died two years later of ovarian cancer.

The Telegraph reported at the time that the drugs used during her fertility treatment may have helped the disease to spread.

Josephine Quintavalle, the head of the Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE) campaign group led the chorus of voices condemning the choices of these women. She said at the time women who had children in their sixties were selfish.

“The poor children have been created and treated like objects. I’m sorry but she’s been totally selfish. Why would a woman want to become a mother at an age when she knows her children are much more likely to be orphaned when they’re young? Women are not meant to have babies when they’re in their sixties.”

“I’m not actually afraid. I simply assume I’ll remain healthy and fit. In matters of organisation I have enough experience, that’s not new for me.”

 What are your views on women having babies this later on in life?