A grandmother of five who spent £23,000 on IVF has now welcomed her seventh child at the age of 51.
Kimberly Chasteen, 51, from St Louis, Missouri, USA, gave birth to her son, Tyrique Chasteen on St Patricks Day, March 17, 2022.
Tyrique Chasteen, the eighth child for the Missouri mother of seven, joins her siblings Jessica, 35, Kayla, 33, Richard, 20, Blake, Briar, 19, and Balin, 17, as well as parents.
Kimberly first tied her tubes at 20 after her first three children but reversed the operation at 30 to welcome three more kids.
After this, the grandmother underwent another tubal litigation at 34 only to reverse the operation in 2019 after meeting a younger man. Kimberly, who was getting close to 50, still had dreams of having a seventh child, so she committed the next three years to conceiving and spent about £23,000 on IVF to make it happen.
And Kimberly says the process hasn’t been without its challenges.
Kimberly, from St Louis, Missouri, who used an egg and sperm donor, faced criticism from trolls after her second child, Kayla, took to TikTok to share her mother’s pregnancy journey, with some commenting that her decision to have a child at 51 was unsafe.
Kimberly said: ‘When I read some of the horrible comments, it hurt my heart and I cried.
She explains: “It’s been a really rough journey; I’ve spent about $35,000 (£23,000) and went through a lot. Finding a doctor who would even approve it for someone my age at the time was difficult.
“It’s not like just anyone would sign off on it, you have to go through a whole host of things.
“They have to do a complete health history on you to see if it’s even possible for you to carry a child. They shut down my cycles several times before we actually got to the initial transfer because when there were red flags and if they see something they’re not going to risk it.”
Eventually, Kimberly fell pregnant and gave birth to Tyrique prematurely, after suffering a placenta abruption at 32 weeks. Now, the family are excited to meet their new sibling when he comes home from hospital.
Kimberly says: “My kids are very bonded and love each other very much, they won’t say that Tyrique isn’t their biological brother, they’ll say, “he’s my brother.”
“They have a lot of love in their hearts and are really great kids, I’m very fortunate that they have each other. I’m blessed.
“He’s growing every day and he’s getting stronger every day, he’s my little fighter, he’s my lucky charm.
“I’m looking forward to bringing him home.”
