THREE-WEEK-OLD Gabriel and his twin sister María de la Cruz are sleeping peacefully in their cots in a private hospital while their mother, 64-year-old Mauricia Ibáñez, looks on. “It’s been worth it,” she says. “The mistakes, the anger, the uncertainty… They are a gift. They’re a miracle.”
Ibáñez gave birth to the twins on February 14 following fertility treatment in the United States. She already has a daughter, but that first-born child was taken into custody by the regional government of Castilla y León in 2014, on the grounds that she was not being properly cared for by her mother.
The news of these latest births has sparked widespread debate in Spain, with opinion divided over the scientific achievement in allowing a woman of this age to be a mother, and those who say allowing her to do so is irresponsible.
