All you must know as Chernobyl survivor who gave start to tenth youngster at 66 breaks silence

Need to know

Alexandra Hildebrandt was living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine, when the Chernobyl disaster struck in 1986 – and she later gave birth to her 10th child at the age of 66

Everything you need to know

• Alexandra Hildebrandt, a survivor of the Chernobyl disaster, has given birth to her 10th child at the age of 66, describing it as “a miracle” and “a gift”.
• Living in Kyiv during the 1986 nuclear catastrophe, Hildebrandt later moved to Berlin where she now leads the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. Her latest child, Philipp, was born healthy at the Virchow Clinic of Charité University Hospital in Berlin.
• Despite doubts from some fertility experts about the natural conception at her age, Hildebrandt insists it was not assisted by IVF or donor eggs. She told reporters: “It was a miracle, a gift. Age should never limit a woman’s ability to love or to nurture.”
• Her doctor, Dr Wolfgang Henrich, described her as the oldest pregnant patient he had treated, saying her “particularly good physical constitution and mental strength” helped her cope with the pregnancy.
• Hildebrandt’s 10 children span across 46 years, with her first two born in the Soviet Union and the remaining eight born in Germany. The case has been described as an “absolute rarity” in medical history, with fertility specialists questioning whether natural conception at 66 is biologically possible without medical intervention.

READ THE FULL STORY: Chernobyl survivor who gave birth to 10th child at 66 opens up about regrets