60-year-old N.J. woman gives birth to twins

A 60-year-old New Jersey woman became a mother - twice over - this week when she delivered a pair of boys by caesarean section at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Frieda Birnbaum, a psychologist from Saddle River, gave birth Tuesday to "Baby A" and "Baby B" at 12:44 p.m. and a minute later, respectively, said Nancy Radwin, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

The twins, whose names had not been chosen, each weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces, Radwin said.

Radwin said hospital officials believe Birnbaum may be the oldest woman to give birth to twins in the United States.

Birnbaum underwent in-vitro fertilization last year at a facility in Cape Town, South Africa, which specializes in older women. She and her husband Ken, a New York City attorney, have been married for 38 years and have three other children - sons ages 33 and 6, and a daughter, 29.

Birnbaum told Fox News that she wanted her younger son to have siblings closer to his age and wanted to remove some of the stigma attached to older women giving birth.

Coincidentally, Tuesday was the birthday of twins born one year ago to a 59-year-old Paramus, N.J., woman, Lauren Cohen. Cohen, a lawyer, gave birth to twins Gregory and Giselle on May 22, 2006, at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Cohen said that Birnbaum contacted her after seeing her name in New Jersey Monthly magazine and that the two quickly became friends.

"We talked about babies. I suggested things that would be helpful when you try to feed two babies simultaneously," Cohen said.