Spanish doctor, 62, sparks debate as she reveals she is eight months pregnant with her third child
Dr Lina Alaverez who started menopause 20 years ago will give birth to a baby girl next month after undergoing IVF fertility treatment
A 62-YEAR-OLD WOMAN who announced she is eight months pregnant says the pregnancy has made her feel like a woman half her age.
Lina Alvarez, who is a doctor living in Lugo, north-western Spain, said she started menopause 20 years ago and is delighted to now be expecting her third child - a baby girl who she's named Lina.
Dr Alvarez, who already has two sons, underwent IVF fertility treatment to become a mum again.
Speaking to local media, she said: "I feel like a woman in her 30s. To feel better than this is impossible."
She believes that her third time as a mother is a reward for everything that has happened in her life after her eldest son, now aged 27, was born disabled after a medical error left him injured during pregnancy.
She claims the stress of the condition was caused when a gynaecologist damaged her son's head during a routine test which led to a divorce between her and her husband.
"It was a life of tears. For years I cried every day because I could not face my son’s disease. He had to be in hospital twice a week."
Despite not having a partner, she conceived her second son, 10, through IFV, when she was 52 years old.
Ten years later, she decided to do it all over again to give them a sister, who medics say is developing well, already weighing 4.4lbs.
"I am very happy because I am living now my reward for so much suffering," she said. "It is a miracle."
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Speaking about her latest pregnancy she said: "I always wanted to be a mother again, but most medical experts said no but some years ago I met a gynaecologist who agreed to help me if the tests were okay. They were positive, and so he helped me to implant an embryo.
"They said there was only a 6 percent chance of success, but I got pregnant with a baby girl.
"And everything is going perfectly. I feel like I'm having a second chance and the pregnancy has made me feel younger and stronger.
Despite her pregnancy sparking a heated debate in Spain, the mum-to-be says she shrugs off her critics.
She added: "When she will be 30, I will be 90. I will be a grandmother as well as a mother and so what, the fact is that my daughter will have been brought up."
Dr Alvarez is due to give birth next month and said that so far it has been a normal pregnancy.