Coimbatore: Adopting the latest blasto-cyst culture, a 63-year-old woman gave birth to a boy this afternoon (Feb 23, 2004) in a private hospital in Erode in Tamil Nadu.

"The mother and the child, weighing 1.75 kg kept in an incubator for observation, are doing well," Dr Sadashivam, chairman of Maruti Medical Centre and Hospital said.

Married for 40 years and childless, the woman for want of a child tried several hospitals and at last approached the centre in July, Sadashivam said.

Since the woman had menopause 20 years ago, the expert team decided to perform assisted reproductive technique.

After taking the sperm from her 74-year-old husband and an egg donated by a woman, an embryo was grown in a test tube, which was transferred to the old woman through blasto-cyst culture after five days, Sadashivam said.

As the woman was diabetic and hypertensive, the baby's growth was supported through injection and external methods.

The baby's growth, which was strictly monitored, was perfect throughout.

The child was delivered through Ceasarian surgery, Sadashivam said.

The baby would be kept in an incubator for three to four days, as it weighed less than below normal weight of 2.25 kg.

A 64-year old woman had given birth to a child in Orissa some seven months ago, Sadashivam said.