It’s a Sunday afternoon. 5-year-old Eliza is playing with a woman whose wrinkles reveal her 72 years of experience. They are all laughing happily. What a harmonious picture. “Mum, ” says Eliza, “Let’s go back home”. Wait, freeze frame. Mum?
Yes, mum. Adriana Iliescu from Romania gave birth to her daughter five years ago when she was 66 years old, which is far from a usual age when a mother sees her first baby. Now Eliza is 7, she may start to expect for a brother/sister, as her mother wants to have another child. This is 2010and Ms. Iliescu is 72.
How does it feel to have a mother who can be other people’s grandmother judging by the age? I say it could be really happy, as old people are usually quite mild in temper and good at taking care of others. Till today I still remember those golden days with my grandmother who passed away four years ago.But not for the lifetime.
Having a mother whose age is so unusual could mean living under severe peer pressure. We all have the experience of being mocking by some unusual elements of us when we were still kids. Children from primary schools cannot be assumed to bear enough consciousness of other people’s pain inside.
What if the mother dies tomorrow? Of course we hope that this happy family can last longer. But it is also difficult to ignore the fact that the mother is more likely to die first. What will happen to little Eliza, if she does not even pass 18?
Ms. Iliescu told Daily Mail two years ago that “in Romania, people who have children are very admired”. Of course we cannot judge a woman’s right to have child especially when “medically, it’s possible” as Ms. Iliescu says to the Guardian. But it can be cruel for Eliza.
Zhenyang Li 