In 2006, at the age of 59, Lauren Cohen from Paramus, New Jersey, gave birth to male and female twins.
It should have been a joyful time for the mother of two welcoming twins into the family, but she couldn’t have foreseen her eldest daughter’s reaction.
In 2002, Lauren met Frank Garcia at a dance class in New Jersey, having been divorced from her previous husband for two years.
The two fell in love at first sight, despite him being 20 years younger than her.
“I never thought he could be interested in a woman so much older. He was a great dancer, so I asked him to dance one night, and he said yes,” Lauren said.
In July 2002, they tied the knot, and Lauren quickly came to realization that her husband was eager to start a family.
The couple attempted to start a family through in vitro fertilization, but due to her advanced age, several doctors rejected her.
In January 2004, a Virginia clinic approved her, but the couple gave up after four unsuccessful IVF attempts.
A doctor in New Jersey eventually agreed to help, and the couple eventually conceived a child.
Thanks to in vitro fertilization, their first daughter, Raquel, was born to them in December 2004.
Less than a year after Raquel was born, Lauren discovered she was carrying twins.
Lauren gave birth to twins Gregory and Giselle via in vitro fertilization with donor eggs on May 22, 2006, just before her 60th birthday.
“I don’t feel like a record holder. Except for arthritis, I’m in excellent shape,”
According to PEOPLE, at age 59, Lauren became the oldest mother in the United States to give birth to twins, tying the record set by an unnamed British woman on Christmas Day 1993.
Lauren, a mother of three small children, has made it a priority to take care of her health so that she can fulfill her dream of watching her kids graduate from college.
The mother-of-four claimed she did pilates and yoga and took nearly a hundred supplements weekly to stay in shape.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to live as long as I can,” she says. “I’ve set a target of seeing them through college. I’ve got to keep going for 17 years – until I’m 81.
Lauren found it challenging to be an older mother because Renee, her eldest daughter, frequently mistaken her for the children’s grandmother.
Lauren and her husband are grateful for their three children, even if they miss out on spending time with their daughter and granddaughter.
