Illinois woman delivers her own grandchild

An American woman in her 60s made history after she gave birth to her own grandson. Kristine Casey, 61, acted as a surrogate mother for her 35-year old daughter Sara Connell, who had been trying for years to conceive.

Casey, already a mother of three adult children, is now believed to be the oldest woman in the state of Illinois to give birth. Casey gave birth to her last child about 30 years ago.

Connell told the Chicago Tribune that she and her mother held hands as Finnean Lee Connell was delivered by cesarean section last week.

When the baby let out a cry, I lost it. It’s such a miracle, the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

The surgery itself was uncomplicated, and the emotional context of this delivery was so profound, the report from the Chicago Tribune says, quoting Susan Gerber, obstetrician at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

In this case, an embryo was created from the egg and sperm from the Connells.

A surrogacy arrangement is one in which a woman (the surrogate mother) carries and delivers a child for another couple (the intended parents). The arrangement involves removing an egg to be fertilised and then implanting it in another woman who carries the baby to birth.

A state health department record showed that the oldest woman to give birth in Illinois was 58 when she had her baby in 2006.