Grandmother, 67, becomes world's oldest surrogate after carrying her daughter's baby

A 67-year-old woman has become the world's oldest surrogate mother after giving birth to her daughter's child.

Anastassia Ontou gave birth on Tuesday (20 December) via Caesarean section. The baby, who was six weeks premature, weighed 2.6lbs. "I feel more like a grandmother than a mother," she said after the delivery.

Ontou who is from a village near Larissa, central Greece, said she decided to carry the child after her daughter suffered seven failed pregnancy attempts and was finally told she would never be able to conceive.

While her daughter, Constantina, 43, admitted she thought her mother was 'crazy' to carry the baby, the doctor who delivered the child described the grandmother as 'heroic' for her selfless act.

While the doctor admitted he had some reservations about the surrogacy, he agreed to proceed following a court ruling.

Jacque Gerrard, Royal College of Midwives director for England, told Mail Online: "Based on international records, this is the oldest surrogate mother who is also a grandmother, based on her daughter's medical condition."'

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the previous oldest surrogate mother was Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara, from Spain. She gave birth to twin boys when she was 66 years and 358 days old after lying about her age to qualify for fertility treatment in the US.

Earlier this year an Indian woman Daljinder Kaur became the oldest mother in the world, giving birth at the age of 72 after two years of IVF.

Later pregnancies often carry risk of complications such as diabetes, preeclampsia and miscarriage and often require use of forceps or caesarean section.

In women over 45, more than half of all pregnancies will end in miscarriage, according to the NHS.