I’ve had a midlife crisis myself – but being a 50-year-old mother of quads is taking it too far

Britain’s oldest mother of quads is 50 and became pregnant after using an inheritance to fund IVF treatment in Cyprus. Using sperm from her husband, four embryos were implanted – one subsequently died, but one divided to become twins.

Tracey Britten lives apart from her partner, who is a roofer, but claims he will visit “to help”. She says she’s been desperate for another child for more than a decade, although her first three children are in their thirties and she already has eight grandchildren. The babies will be born by caesarean section in two months, at 32 weeks, and the cost to the NHS to care for them will be hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Apart from the increased health risks to mother and babies, what was going through this woman’s mind when she started a course of hormone therapy aged 50? Tracey says she doesn’t look or feel her age – neither did I when I was 50 – but surely she was going through some kind of midlife crisis?

At that age, I persisted with a turbulent relationship in spite of advice from all my friends, then opted for a disastrous marriage in Las Vegas, followed by divorce. I definitely had a mental hiccup and my values (and hormones) were all over the place.

Tracey might be fit and well, but caring for four tiny babies with part-time support from a man who is working is a herculean task. I know that mothers are getting older, and that there are double standards because we don’t criticise older fathers in the same way – but they generally don’t do all the mopping and wiping. Those pictures of Ronnie Wood looking knackered with his two-year-twins last week tell you everything you need to know about older dads. They can’t cope.