Sir Elton too old to be a dad?

Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish are now proud parents to a baby boy, via a surrogate, born on Christmas Day. Zachary Jackson Levon Furnis-John weighed in at seven pounds 15 ounces and is the source of much joy to his parents.

The new parents said in a joint statement to USmagazine.com: "Zachary is healthy and doing well" and added that they are "overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment."

The event has sparked much controversy. The arguments against the couple's desire to have children arise from the two facts that they are older parents which many people are against, and of course as they are the same sex the child will not have a mother.

One question is whether older people should become parents. The arguments against older parents is that they may not live to see their children grow up, that their children will be faced with the care of older, more frail parents and that having older parents will cause them embarrassment among their peers.

Corinne Sweet is a psychologist and the author of "Birth Begins at Forty". She says that older parents of Elton John's age can give their child a good twenty years but that they need to make provision for their child in case they should die early. The advantage she says of being older parents is that they have the time and commitment to bringing up their child - they really want to be parents - which in turn has the effect of making the child grow up to be confident and bright.

Older parents are more likely to be financially stable and usually they are not likely to want to go out clubbing or looking for a new partner. Ms Sweet added: "You are a kind of parent who has experience and wisdom. You may not be an ace on the soccer field but being there and giving emotional and financial security can mean a lot."

However, Donna Dawson psychologist and agony aunt reminds us that the average life expectancy for a man is 75 - when the couple's son will be 12 and that the ageing couple will be too old to kick a ball around with their son, and may have to engage a lot of hired help.

However, she does acknowledge that Zachary will have all the advantages of a wonderful education and material comforts.

What's this?