The doctor delivers the new-born baby girl to her 68-year-old father at the hospital in Zaozhuang, East China's Shandong Province. Photo: IC

A 67-year-old woman and her 68-year-old husband are believed to be the oldest couple in China to have naturally conceived a baby but their decision reportedly provoked a rift with their two 40-something children and debate on the Chinese internet.

The healthy baby girl was born on Friday by Cesarean at a hospital in the city of Zaozhuang, East China's Shandong Province. 

The mother surnamed Tian was out of bed in rude health after the delivery and the hospital told the Global Times on Tuesday she was already discharged. 

But neither of the couple's adult children, both in their 40s, went to the hospital.

The adult son and daughter were upset with their parents upon learning their mother was pregnant, news site iqilu.com reported. 

The mother said her daughter threatened to break with her parents if they had the baby, the report said. Nobody was fully named in the media coverage.

Meanwhile, internet users appeared divided on the issue. 

Many argued it was the couple's choice to have a baby and their adult children had no right to interfere.

"The husband is a lawyer and the wife a retired nurse and so their income and pension are enough to raise the baby," was one typical comment on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo social media platform. The adult children were being selfish, the user asserted.

In response other users agreed the couple was just simply too old. 

"Even if the couple lives to 100, their newborn will barely be in her 30s," one posted.

The husband, surnamed Huang, said his wife had gone through menopause but after taking medicine to promote blood circulation her menstrual cycle returned.

He said he was not worried about his new baby's future, as he is physically fit and exercises regularly. "There's no need to think about what might happen 100 years from now," the father was quoted as saying.

Other users sympathized more with the adult children. 

"Perhaps the adult children are against the baby because they worry their sister will become a burden," posted one user.

Another wrote: "I'm 20 years older than my brother, and when he was born my mom promised me that I wouldn't have to take care of him. But now I have to do everything for him." 

A 25-year-old Beijing woman with a 12-year-old brother told the Global Times she had the same attitude. 

"I think it's irresponsible to the baby and also unfair to the adult children," said the woman. 


Newspaper headline: Senior couple welcomes baby, sparks rift