Lyn Mason is nearing retirement age, but her family life has just begun

When most people reach 60, easing back and enjoying their golden years is high on the agenda. But for New Zealand's oldest mum Lyn Mason - who reached the milestone in July - and her husband Ian, 61, packing school lunches and running around after their two energetic kids still takes priority.

Lyn, who made history in 2002 by giving birth to her son at the age of 53, isn't fazed by the prospect of missing out on her retirement.

‘I suppose we won't have one,' the bubbly blonde muses. ‘But then again some people regret retiring and find they've got nothing much to do. We'll surely have plenty to keep us busy.'

While many of their friends look forward to extended holidays and days spent on the golf course, Lyn says having Dean, seven, and Celine, almost five, in their latter years has fit into their plan perfectly.

‘We've never been ones wishing to travel the world. We've skipped the ditch a couple of times, but that's as far as we've ventured. But we don't feel like we've missed out on things at all because that's never really what we wanted to do.'

Lyn marked her 60th the same way she embraces the stresses of motherhood - with as little fuss as possible.

‘It doesn't feel much different at all,' she says. ‘It was more a matter of, "Here's another one turning over." Big celebrations aren't really our thing.'

They used to be, before tragedy ripped their world apart. Lyn suffered six miscarriages - including losing quadruplets when she was 33 - and numerous failed rounds of fertility treatment before she naturally conceived their eldest daughter Kylie in 1987. That same week Lyn's only sister Corynne died in a road collision.

Tragically in 2000, at the age of 12, Kylie was also killed in a car accident, along with Lyn's mum Mary.

‘It was the most devastating time of our life,' Lyn says. ‘It's something I don't think you can ever come to terms with. Even now down the track, you don't actually get over it. We find times like our birthdays and other special events very hard because Kylie's not here to share. You build up to these dates and when they've come and gone it's a bit of a relief that you've passed that hurdle.'

What would have been Kylie's 21st birthday last April was especially difficult. To mark the day Dean and Celine made a birthday cake and blew out the candles for their sister, who will always be a big part of their family.

‘We always talk about her, and the kids now have a lot of her bits and pieces like her calculator and her books, so she's in their hearts as well.'

Having a family was a dream when the couple married 40 years ago, so it wasn't long after Kylie's death that Ian suggested they look into having more children.

‘I was aghast,' Lyn remembers. ‘I thought, "How on earth's that going to happen?" But we didn't have any spare time to waste if that was the track we were going to go down.'

Ian adds, ‘After losing Kylie I would have hated to go through the rest of my life wondering "what if?". I suppose we were really pushing the boundary, but we were lucky that Lyn was still fit enough and we were able to try again.'

After two years of unsuccessful attempts with two different egg donors, Lyn fell pregnant with Dean. Although they were desperate to try for another child soon after, Lyn was struck down with the onset of Bell's palsy, a condition that paralyses one side of the face.

‘We wanted to have them as close together as possible but the doctors recommended I wait at least 12 months for my health to recover a little bit,' she says.

Celine's arrival in 2004 was a special moment for the couple, who despite such immense heartache, consider themselves blessed.

‘Celine and Dean have been a way of helping us to move on, and they've given us the chance to share in the pleasure of having children again,' Lyn explains.

‘It was always our mission to have a family, so when that was taken away from us we sort of shifted heaven and earth to create a new one. We wouldn't have ever dreamt along these lines if we hadn't lost our daughter, but they've created so much love and enjoyment.'

Lyn says their ordeal has only strengthened her and Ian's close bond.

‘We were able to understand each other's way of grieving and just be there for each other. Often it doesn't need a lot of words, it just needs the comfort and support of one another.'

Turning five next month, Celine's thrilled to be starting school with her big brother, and it's a phase in her daughter's life that Lyn feels surprisingly relaxed about.

‘She has her stationery and uniform sorted, and can't wait for school visits,' Lyn says.

With both her kids at school the petite stay-at-home mum will have more time to devote to her volunteer role at Fertility New Zealand.

Community support

While initially passers-by might have been shocked at the sight of a heavily pregnant Lyn, Hamilton locals now approach the family for a different reason.

‘We used to be mistaken for the kids' grandparents when they were little, but it's now more a case of people recognising me around town and coming up to see how the kids are doing,' she says with a smile.

The hands-on pair, who receives ongoing support from friends and family, agree that having children the second time around later in life has given them a new perspective on parenthood.

‘Kids don't relate to you being older,' Lyn says. ‘They expect of you what they'd expect of any mum. We're young at heart and energetic.'

Ian, who works as a manufacturer for Fonterra, adds, ‘People are always commenting on how well-behaved and polite they are and I think it's because we've instilled in them the values of our generation. Lyn lost three generations in a short space of time, so for her, it's given her family again.'

Lyn says they've got ‘little answers' prepared should Dean and Celine need to respond to any negativity from their peers.

‘They know that I'm an older mum and they still think I'm pretty cool. No doubt they'll tell me what they think if I'm not up with it!'

By Sarah Mason

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