Becoming a mother is a life-changing journey—sometimes planned, sometimes unexpected. As the article notes, “there is no right or wrong way.” Whether young or older, every mother’s path deserves respect.

Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, from Spain, challenged norms by becoming the world’s oldest mom at 66 in 2006. Her family was stunned—“they thought she was joking”—when she announced she was pregnant with twins. She had sold her house to afford IVF and admitted, “Maybe things shouldn’t have been done in the way they were done, but that was the only way to achieve the thing I had always dreamed of.”

Maria believed that women should choose when to start a family, not be bound by societal pressure. Despite criticism—even from relatives who called her “selfish”—she gave birth to healthy twin boys, Christian and Pau.

Tragically, six months later, Maria was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. “They’re still babies, so I haven’t told them,” she said. She passed away in 2009.

Her family stepped in to raise the boys. “Now they are here. We love these beautiful boys,” her brother Ricardo said. A family friend added, “God didn’t let her enjoy her children very much.”

Maria’s story continues to spark debate.