Annegret Raunigk

Annegret Raunigk (* 1950 ) is a German teacher who hit the headlines because of her old age pregnancies . On May 19, 2015, she became the mother of quadruplets . According to the doctors, the birth went “surprisingly without any problems”. The four children born in the 26th week of pregnancy were given medical care and observed in a premature baby unit for several weeks.

Life

Raunigk is a primary school teacher for English and Russian . She retired in summer / autumn 2015. Before the quadruplets were born, she was the mother of 13 children between the ages of 9 and 44, five different known fathers and an anonymous sperm donor. Raunigk was married to one of the known fathers, but the marriage failed. Raunigk, who was a single parent for most of her life, last lived in Berlin-Spandau . After the birth, Raunigk moved to Höxter ; some of their older children live there. In 2018 she sold her house in Höxter to move back to Berlin.

Raunigk gave birth to their youngest child, a girl, up to the birth of the quadruplets in 2005. Raunigk had himself artificially fertilized abroad through egg and sperm donation , as egg donation is prohibited in Germany under the Embryo Protection Act. Even then, at the age of 55, she hit the headlines as the oldest mother in Germany. In 2005 they appeared in Günther Jauch's annual review “People, Images, Emotions”.

Raunigk received the sperm and egg donations and the implantation of the resulting embryos for the quadruple pregnancy in a clinic in Ukraine at the end of 2014 . Her attending gynecologist, a gynecologist in Berlin-Schöneberg , with whom she has been a patient since the beginning of 2014, did not inform her of her intentions in advance. The quadruple pregnancy was / is reported extensively on RTL in the program Extra - Das RTL-Magazin by Birgit Schrowange , which Raunigk and her youngest daughter are accompanying in the media. In the show Raunigk also rejected criticism of her pregnancy; she relied on her right to decide for herself. The news magazine Der Spiegel criticized the fact that the RTL report served “mere voyeurism”, Raunigk's motives remained unclear and that the presenter Birgit Schrowange was more concerned with a “cozy home story” and not with journalistic clarification. In addition, the Bild am Sonntag reported exclusively on Raunigks quadruple pregnancy.

Raunigk gave birth to quadruplets on May 19, 2015, after a pregnancy of almost 26 weeks, in the Charité in Berlin . The birth took place by caesarean section . According to medical experts, the pregnancy could not have ended naturally, as Raunigks uterus would not be able to withstand the stresses and strains of multiple births. In addition, further complications, such as deficiency development and the risk of preeclampsia , would have to be expected.

Raunigk was admitted to the hospital on the eve of the birth after the labor began. The quadruplets weighed between 655 grams and 980 grams; they were medically cared for and observed as premature babies in an incubator in the intensive care unit for newborns. Christoph Bührer, the director of the Clinic for Neonatology at the Charité, pointed out that Raunigks Vierlingen are “high-risk patients” who demand “a lot of attention and intensive treatment”; the risk of permanent damage or development delays is high.

Raunigk is the oldest quadruplet mother in the world. But she is not the oldest mother, nor is she the oldest multiple mother; this is the Indian Omkari Panwar, who gave birth to twins in 2008 at the age of 70 and is also the oldest mother in the world.

criticism

Health politicians from the SPD and CDU, as well as high-ranking doctors, sharply criticized the expectant mother. “I think this is a very serious case. Such a pregnancy cannot and must not be a role model for anyone, ”emphasized the SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach . The CDU health politician Jens Spahn remarked: “Pregnancy at an advanced age means a great risk for mother and child. Even if it is medically possible, one has to ask oneself whether it makes sense. I have great doubts ”. Joseph Neulen from the Aachen University Clinic is of the opinion: "It is absolutely irresponsible and medically incomprehensible to undertake such a treatment and to take the risk of higher-grade multiples."

Klaus Vetter , former head of the clinic for obstetrics at Vivantes Klinikum Neukölln and board member of the German Society for Perinatal Medicine (DGPM), also criticized Raunigks pregnancy. In an interview with the magazine STERN , he pointed out serious health risks for Raunigk, especially problems of the cardiovascular system . This is expressed u. a. in Raunigks shortness of breath . He considers Raunigks attempt at multiple pregnancy to be a “daring experiment on humans”.

Other doctors described Raunigks pregnancy as an "experiment on humans"; Planting four eggs in a woman is a " malpractice ".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Medical professionals appalled by quadruplet pregnancy of 65-year-olds " in: Süddeutsche Zeitung of April 13, 2015. Retrieved on April 19, 2015.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} 65-year-old Berliner gives birth to quadruplets in: Berliner Morgenpost from May 22, 2015. Accessed on May 23, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Annegret Raunigk in an exclusive interview: Birgit Schrowange meets the 65-year-old who is expecting quadruplets ( memento of the original from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Official website of RTL. Retrieved May 7, 2015. 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} The pregnant 65-year-old woman and the egg cell business in: Berliner Morgenpost from April 15, 2015. Retrieved on May 7, 2015.
5. Jump up to teacher: Son of quadrupeds pregnant: "I don't think it's good that Mutti has more babies" in: Focus from April 15, 2015. Retrieved on May 7, 2015.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} I don't reject anyone Interview with Kai Hertwig; in: Berliner Zeitung from April 15, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
7. ↑ "I don't know how they all always imagine it" . In: WELT from June 8, 2018.
8. ↑ RTL- "Extra" about quadruple pregnancy: "My goodness, at 65!" in Der Spiegel on April 14, 2015. Retrieved on May 7, 2015.
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Motherhood of 65-year-olds: Doctors see quadruplets still in a critical phase in: DER SPIEGEL of May 27, 2015. Retrieved on May 27, 2015.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} "This woman is in mortal danger" Interview with Klaus Vetter in: STERN from April 15, 2015. Accessed on May 7, 2015.