Children as lifestyle accessories

The media have been playing up this story in recent weeks: Spaniard, 67, becomes oldest new mother with birth of twins. And now this: World's Oldest Mother Lied to Fertility Clinic, telling them she was only 55. Why did she feel compelled to do this? "Clinics in the UK and many other countries will not help women conceive after a certain age in the belief that it is unfair to the child." But the new mother justifies her deception: "I think everyone should become a mother at the right time for them." That last pronoun does not, of course, refer to the children.