47-year-old woman gives birth to twins

Doctors said she was too old to have a baby. Now she’s celebrating Mother’s Day with twins.

Freddi Baranoff, 48, of Brooklyn spent years trying to conceive — and got the surprise of a lifetime when she discovered she was having not one, but two baby girls.

“I was in it for the long haul,” said Baranoff, who lives with her husband, Eddie, and five children in Midwood. “However long it took, I was not going to give up.”

She’s one of many women having children later in life, as the average age for new moms soars, especially in New York.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week show the rate of women having their first child between the ages of 40 and 44 has more than doubled from 1990 to 2012.

New York state ranked first in the nation for the number of moms having their first baby at ages 40 to 44. It was third for women 35 to 39.

About 2.3 in 1,000 women ages 40 to 44 had their first child in 2012, up from 0.4 in 1,000 in 1970. For women 35 to 39, it’s gone from 2.1 to 11 in 1,000.

Still, Baranoff says the journey to having identical twins Elly and Emily, now 18 months old, wasn’t easy.

Once a Midtown trader, she got married at age 31 and had three children, the last born when she was 38.

“I wanted a fourth kid, but didn’t think it was going to be so difficult,” she said. “Lo and behold, I found myself in my 40s, and it wasn’t panning out.”

Baranoff said she saw three top fertility specialists, who pressured her to use donor eggs and medications.

Baranoff with her family left to right) Michael, 16, Emmy and Elly, 18 months, Prissy, 11, and Nate, 14.Angel Chevrestt

“None of them were optimistic,” she said. “They basically told me it was a long shot. I was already 45, and one doctor said, ‘If you are 45, we shouldn’t even be having this discussion.’ ”

But she wouldn’t give up. She signed up for acupuncture, hypnotherapy and a healthier diet. She tried relaxation techniques and chamomile teas.

Then she found Dr. John Zhang at the New Hope Fertility Center, a Columbus Circle clinic known for helping women in the 40s conceive without high-cost medications.

Zhang suggested “natural cycle” in-vitro fertilization, which uses a naturally produced egg instead of eggs created with the help of drugs.

For Baranoff, the third egg was the charm. She delivered the healthy girls at age 47.

Baranoff says the twins keep her young while she’s also caring for daughter Prissy, 11, and sons Nate, 14, and Michael, 16. She also has stepsons Joe, 22, and Robert, 25.

“All children are miracles,” Baranoff said, “but once you reach your 40s, you question whether it’s going to happen for you. Don’t give up.

“I’m beyond thrilled,” she added. “This has completed my family.”