A 65-year-old elementary schoolteacher in Berlin had left many people in awe 10 years ago when she gave birth to her 13^th child at 55 years old. Now, she is making another history as she is set to give birth --- to not just one --- but four babies.

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Annegret Raunigk, who is in her 2nd trimester of pregnancy, is set to become the world's oldest woman to give birth to quadruplets. Raunigk fondly shares that 13^th child Leila, who  has just turned 10, said she wanted to have a sibling close to her age.

The teacher's eldest child is now 44.  This prompted Raunigk to seek fertility treatments.  It took her 18 months of treatment before she finally got pregnant again.

"So what if I'm 65?" Raunigk said. "Why must one always hew to the obvious clichés? I find that quite exhausting."

Raunigk conceived the quadruplets via artificial insemination, using both donated eggs and sperm.  Her journey to giving birth will be documented for a German TV show, RTL.

However, Dr. Holger Stepan, head of obstetrics at the University Hospital of Leipzig, said Raunigk's pregnancy is extremely dangerous, calling it "an absolute disaster".  Stepan added that at Raunigk's age, she and all her fetuses are put at high risk. 

The doctor explained a woman who gets pregnant at a late age makes her susceptible to different kinds of life-threatening conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.  

Should the babies survive, they will most likely be born premature and with risk of suffering cerebral hemorrhages, infections and lung damage. 

"Sure, it was a shock for me," Raunigk said on the news that she was carrying quadruplets. "Once the physician established that there are four babies inside me then I had to do some thinking," the German teacher added.

Raunigk said her doctor suggested to undergo selective reduction, or the practice of removing one or more fetuses in cases of triplet and quadruplet pregnancies.  But she did not take that option.  

The teacher's 13 children were from five different fathers. Raunigk has seven grandchildren.

She is due to give birth this summer and remains optimistic that her four babies will be delivered without any complications. 

"I simply assume that I will remain fit and healthy," she said.

Tagsmom, German Mom, quadruplets, artificial insemination, Pregnancy