Doctors attending Adriana Iliescu, who gave birth at 66, have refrained from engaging in a public debate but have said that she was in good condition to carry a pregnancy.

Iliescu has told reporters she is "more than happy."

Critics: Shocking, Selfish, Unnatural

Iliescu conceived by means of in vitro fertilization. She originally was carrying triplets, but one baby died in uteru early in her pregnancy. Eliza was delivered by Caesarean section after her twin, who weighed just 1.5 lbs., also died in the womb.

Some religious leaders and medical ethicists have criticized the doctors who assisted Iliescu in becoming pregnant, variously describing the event as shocking, selfish or unnatural.

Arguments range from general opposition to in vitro fertilization at any age, to concern over the risks of pregnancy to a woman of Iliescu's age, to worry over the future of a child born to a parent some consider old enough to be her great-grandmother.

Doctors attending Iliescu have refrained from engaging in a public debate but have said that she was in good condition to carry a pregnancy.

Gender Gap

Late maternity appears to raise a greater hue and cry than late paternity, which seems to attract more jokes -- and even admiration -- than controversy.

The famously old South Carolina senator, Strom Thurmond, who died at 100, was praised by many for his "virility" when he became a father for the first time at 68. Actor Tony Randall became a father at 78, and author Saul Bellow at 84.

A 93-year-old Australian man, Les Colley, reportedly broke the oldest father record when his wife gave birth to a son, Oswald, in 1992.