At 66, Adriana Iliescu rewrote history by welcoming her baby girl, Eliza Maria — becoming the world’s oldest mother.
Born premature yet strong, Eliza represents hope powered by science, courage, and an unshakable dream. While debates swirl around age and ethics, one truth shines through: love doesn’t follow a timeline.
Adriana Iliescu looks at Eliza Maria, her newborn girl, at the intensive care department at the Giulesti Maternity Hospital in Bucharest, 20 January 2005. A 67-year-old Romanian woman Adriana Illescu, a retired university professor who had received fertility drugs for nine years before succeeding in becoming pregnant nine months ago, gave birth five weeks early to twin girls 16 January. Only one survived, however, weighing one and a half kilos (three pounds). Iliescu broke the record held by an Italian woman, who gave birth to a boy at the age of 62. Doctors had implanted the egg of of a young Italian woman which had been fertilized by her husband’s sperm. “Each person has a mission on earth. My mission was to prove that women who want to have children can do it,” Adriana Iliescu said at a press conference at the Giulesti maternity hospital in Bucharest. AFP PHOTO DANIEL MIHAILESCU (Photo credit should read DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)
This story reminds us that faith, determination, and modern medicine can open doors once thought impossible — and that miracles sometimes arrive exactly when the heart is ready.
