A 65-year-old German woman is due to give birth to quadruplets in the summer. She has defended her decision by saying that she has been looking forward to the challenges ahead.

Annegret Raunigk said that she took the decision to get pregnant when her nine-year old daughter, Lelia, told her that she wanted to have a baby sister or brother.

The woman is now in her fifth month of pregnancy. Raunigk told the German television channel RTL that Lelia is a great kid and she wanted to fulfill her wish. She said that if science had enabled her to get pregnant than it should be up to her to decide for herself.

At present, Raunigk has 13 children and seven grandchildren. She even disclosed the fact that her pregnancy was the result of artificial insemination that was carried out in a clinic in Ukraine.

The artificial insemination used sperm and eggs from anonymous donors, a practice that is prohibited in Germany. Contrary to her doctors' expectations, all the four of the fertilized eggs placed in Raunigk's womb developed into embryos. Otherwise, the chance of conceiving quadruplets naturally is one in 13 million.

Raunigk said that she never interferes in anyone else's life and so she doesn't expect them to interfere in her life. She is a Russian and English primary school teacher who is due to retire shortly before giving birth.

Raunigk did not disclose about how many times she had gone through the IVF process or how much it had cost.

Nine years ago, she made headlines by becoming Germany's oldest mother at the age of 55, after giving birth to Lelia. According to her, she conceived Lelia naturally. She even once appeared on German television along with her 13 children, out of which the oldest is 43.