72-year-old woman spends £300k on IVF

A woman of 72 has spent £300,000 on IVF treatment - and is still trying for a baby.

Jenny Brown, who has never had a long-term relationship, has travelled to the United States and Italy trying to conceive and now plans to visit Bulgaria, Romania, Spain and India in her quest to become a mother.

She has already had six courses of IVF at a cost of £5,000 a time and is prepared to keep spending to achieve her dream.

If she is successful, she will become the oldest mother in the world.

Today Miss Brown, who lives in a three-bedroom flat in London, said she has always wanted a baby but spent her younger years devoted to academia, achieving degrees in medical sciences and zoology.

In her early 50s she decided the time was right and started looking for a sperm donor.

When she failed to get pregnant naturally, she started using her savings to have the IVF treatment. She is now appealing for women aged 20 to 35 to come forward and donate eggs but she is determined not to use a surrogate.

"It's important that I carry the baby myself because I believe that even if I get pregnant with a donated egg, I will pass genetic material on to the baby while I carry it in the womb," she said. "I believe the baby will look more like me that way."

Critics of her behaviour point out she would be old enough to be the child's great-grandmother and could leave it orphaned at a young age. Miss Brown said she hoped to live to 100.