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.
The nurse's assistant was just 16-years-old when she had her first daughter Jessica, 35 in 1986, and went on to have five more children before Tyrique: Kayla, 33, Richard, 31, Blake, 20, Briar, 19, and Balin, 17.
Kimberly, who used both an egg and sperm donor, has endured some hurtful criticism from trolls after daughter Kayla documented her pregnancy journey via TikTok, with some blasting her decision as unsafe.
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Kimberly said: “When I read some of the horrible comments, it hurt my heart and I cried. Kayla said that she could take them down, but I told her that people are entitled to their own opinions and it’s just ugliness and if they choose to be ugly that’s on them.
“Some of them can be pretty gnarly and ugly, like I know there was one person who said that I was going to have fun chasing him around in a trailer. A comment came back to that saying, ‘FYI she spent $35,000 I don’t’ think she lives in a trailer’".
Prior to Tyrique's birth, Kimberly has had been through two tubal litigations, reversing both procedures each time. She first had her tubes tied at 20 after welcoming her first three children, reversing the operation at 30 before having another three kids.
She underwent her second tubal litigation at the age of 34, getting this reversed once more in 2019 after meeting a younger partner.
Despite later separating from this man, Kimberley continued to hope for a seventh child and spent the next three years trying to get pregnant.
Kimberly said: “I had a younger boyfriend, and we had talked about getting married and wanting to have a child together. That’s why I decided to have the second reversal.
“The boyfriend became toxic but I didn’t give up on the dream of having another child. It didn’t stop because the relationship was over, I just continued the journey.
“It’s been a really rough journey; I’ve spent about £23,000 ($35,000) and went through a lot. Trying to find a doctor who would even sign off on it for my age when was hard".
She continued: "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".
Kimberly suffered a placenta abruption at 32 weeks, after which baby Tyrique was born. Her six children are said to have been very excited to meet their new little brother.
She added: “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".
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