Twins Born to Woman, 53, Bask in Spotlight : Fertilization: Proud father shows off premature baby girls. Their chances of survival are excellent, doctors say.

Cameras clicked Wednesday as Don Shearing took turns holding the tiny hands of his day-old twin daughters, born into the spotlight trained on their 53-year-old mother, who is among the oldest women to give birth.

The babies, Kelly Ann and Amy Leigh, were born 12 weeks premature and placed in the neonatal intensive care unit at Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim. They were listed in guarded condition but doctors said they had an excellent chance of survival.

The mother, Mary, was in the early stages of menopause when she became pregnant in May using a laboratory technique in which the eggs of a younger woman were fertilized with Don Shearing’s sperm and implanted in his wife’s uterus.

Mary Shearing is one of a handful of women age 50 or older to give birth with this method, which was originally developed about seven years ago to help women in their 20s and 30s whose ovaries had failed prematurely.

Officials at Martin Luther Hospital, where Mary Shearing received fertility treatments and gave birth, said they believe she is the oldest woman to have achieved a multiple pregnancy through the technique.

Dr. David Diaz, medical director of the hospital’s reproductive medicine program, called her “one of the pioneers.”

Since the pregnancy was publicized early last month, Diaz has received many inquiries about the fertility technique from women in their 50s and early 60s, he said.

Fertility doctors say there is no ceiling on the age at which a woman can successfully give birth with the aid of hormone treatments and donated eggs.

However, Diaz said that evaluations of prospective mothers should be made on a case-by-case basis, taking pains to screen out candidates with medical problems that are more common in older women and could jeopardize a pregnancy.

Mary Shearing, who is still recovering from a Cesarean section, was unavailable for comment, although doctors said she was in good condition and walked to the neonatal intensive care unit to see her daughters.

Don Shearing, 32, bristled when asked about the ethics of a woman of his wife’s age choosing to raise a child. He complained of a double standard maintained by critics who see no problem with older men becoming fathers.

“Look at Ed McMahon,” he said, referring to the television entertainer’s decision several years ago, at the age of 62, to adopt an infant girl.

The Shearings said they had tried to have a child since they were married seven years ago. Mary Shearing has three grown children, ages 29 to 32, from a former marriage and two grandchildren.

Don Shearing said he felt the thrill of becoming a father Tuesday as he stood beside his wife during the births.

He told reporters that he and his wife decided to announce the birth of their girls to give hope to other older women who yearn for a family. “It is a fantastic experience. We recommend it highly,” he said.

“This is daddy’s little girl,” he beamed as he introduced reporters to Kelly Ann, who had slid sideways during her birth and had to be delivered by Cesarean section at 9:16 a.m. Tuesday.

Kelly Ann and her twin sister, Amy Leigh, who was born naturally 10 minutes earlier, were listed in stable but guarded condition.

The infants were born about two weeks after their mother’s amniotic fluid ruptured and she was confined to a hospital bed, where she was closely monitored.

Dr. Leonard Fox, the neonatologist, said the twins were doing well. He said the babies could breath on their own but were temporarily attached to respirators to assist their fragile lungs.

Fox said the twins will be released from the hospital when they weigh 4 1/2 pounds--which he estimated will be in about three months. Amy Leigh had a birth weight of 2 pounds, 2 ounces, while Kelly Ann weighed 2 pounds, 12 1/2 ounces.

Fox said the girls, both of whom have fine, brown hair, will look very similar, although Kelly Ann, who was 16 inches long at birth, will probably be taller than her sister, Amy Leigh, who was 14 inches.

Dr. Nandi Wijesinghe, the obstetrician, said premature births are common for twins and had nothing to do with either the age of the mother or the method of impregnation.

With twins to support, Don Shearing said he was relieved to have recently obtained a well-paying job as an electrical engineer, after having lost his job in the construction industry a year ago.

Martin Luther Hospital spokesman Dennis Gaschen said the Shearings also have placed an attorney on retainer to review offers to have their story told in magazines and as a television drama and for the couple to appear on television talk shows.

Consider the Odds

Average age at menopause: 50. Chance of getting pregnant during or after menopause without medical assistance: Less than 1%. Rate of pregnancies from in-vitro fertilization with donor egg: 55%. Chance of twins: 25%. Chance of triplets: 10%. Multiple births without medical assistance: Chance of producing twins is 1%. Ruth Alice Kistler is one of the world’s oldest mothers. She gave birth at age 57 to a daughter in Glendale in 1956. Sources: Martin Luther Hospital, Guinness Book of World Records Researched by JANICE L. JONES