Anti-ageing expert Dr John Levin is a dad again at 93-years-old – this is how he plans to see his son’s major life milestones

Anti-ageing doctor John Levin, 93, has revealed his extraordinary mission to live long enough to see his toddler turn 21.

Australia’s oldest new dad believes he will still be around when his son turns 21 – and he and his wife haven’t ruled out giving their toddler another sibling.

Dr John Levin, 93, welcomed his third son Gabby in February 2024, five months before his firstborn son Greg, 65, died from motor neurone disease (MND).

The Hampton East GP is now deploying every weapon in his anti-ageing arsenal in a bid to see the little boy reach adulthood.

Dr John Levin with partner Yanying and 18 month old Gabby. Picture: David Caird

His regimen includes twice-weekly visits to the gym, no meals before noon and a mostly vegetarian diet.

He doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke and keeps his mind sharp by working in his St Kilda Rd practice five days a week.

Dr Levin has also been injecting human growth hormone for 30 years.

But while he is a passionate practitioner of “anti-ageing medicine”, Dr Levin says happiness is the essential ingredient for quality of life.

Watching the giggling toddler run into his father’s outstretched arms it’s impossible to argue against the power of joy.

Dr Levin discovered his new well of happiness when he was at his lowest ebb.

“My wife had died and we’d been married 57 years. I was very lonely,” he says.

To fill the void he decided to learn a language.

“For some reason, I don’t know why, I picked Chinese.”

The decision led him to linguistics lecturer Dr Yanying Lu, now 37, who was teaching Mandarin on Monday afternoons.

Dr John Levin met Dr Yanying Lu while attending her Mandarin lessons. Picture: David Caird

“He was a terrible student,” Dr Lu says.

“After the third lesson I told him to stop. I didn’t want to rip him off!

“But he kept finding excuses to see me.”

The pair found common ground through medicine.

“I’m not a medical doctor, but my father was a surgeon in China and my mother a director of nursing,” Dr Lu says.

“I told her if she was interested in hearing about anti-ageing she should come for dinner,” Dr Levin says.

That dinner turned into a friendship which quickly became a May to December romance.

“My first lesson was actually on my mother’s birthday. It was January 13,” Dr Levin says.

“It didn’t take me long to learn what I wanted.

“We were living together on the first of March.”

When Dr Lu fell in love with a man 57 years her senior, her family were surprised.

But they quickly accepted Dr Levin, or Johnny, as she calls him, inviting him to join their Chinese New Year celebrations.

Cynics suggesting Dr Lu married for money would be mistaken – when the pair met Dr Levin was bankrupt.

Prior to getting married in Las Vegas in 2014, the couple had not discussed children.

Dr Lu says she didn’t even consider having a baby until the global health pandemic forced Melbourne into the world’s longest lockdown.

Dr John Levin is doing all he can to ensure he is still around to celebrate his toddler Gabby's 21st. Picture: David Caird

“We did some soul searching, asking ourselves where do we want to be, what do we want to see in our lives in 10 years time,” she said.

“I thought to myself, if I lose him (Dr Levin), I want a part of him. I wanted to have a child.”

Donor sperm and IVF helped bring that desire to life.

The often arduous process was “straightforward” for Dr Lu.

“I was very lucky. We achieved a pregnancy on the first try,” she says.

“It can be so difficult for many women. One of my mothers’ group took 14 cycles to produce her daughter.”

The couple are now considering returning to IVF to add another child to their family.

“We’re still talking!” Dr Lu says.

Dr John Levin has been on human growth hormone to combat ageing.

She isn’t worried about parenting on her own.

“With modern families these days you see different types of families and they make it work,” she said.

“If other people can make it work, so can I.”

And Dr Levin has no intention of missing key moments in Gabby’s life.

“Of course being there for his 21st is a goal,” he says.

However, the most significant milestone is Gabby’s bar mitzvah.

He plans to read the Torah with his son at the coming-of-age ritual to mark the boy’s entry into religious adulthood at 13.

“It’s such an important moment. I want to guide him through it.” he says.

Dr Lu is also preparing for the occasion.

Dr John Levin as a young boy in the 1930s. Picture: Supplied

“I’m converting to Judaism,” she says.

“I’ve been studying the religion for the past two years. It’s complex. Even as an academic I find it difficult.

“But living the faith through daily practices is rewarding.”

She acknowledges some may question her choice to embrace Judaism amid rising global anti-Semitism.

But Dr Lu is used to raising eyebrows.

She says Gabby’s very existence “gives people headaches”.

“People think at first that he is Johnny’s grandson or sometimes great-grandson,” she says.

“When we explain they can’t contain their surprise.

“But for us it’s about the choices that make us happy. We can’t control how other people feel.”

Little Gabby has a big family to love and guide him, including two sisters in their 60s and a grand-niece just a few months older than he is. Picture: supplied

Dr Levin has a large family.

He had three children with his first wife including Greg – who was 65 when he died in 2024 from MND – Ashley, 62 and Samantha, 60.

They have produced 10 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

“(Gabby) is well protected … we have a community behind us,” Dr Lu says.

Dr Levin admits he has forgotten a lot about his early days as a dad in the 70s.

Sleepless nights spent aimlessly driving to settle his late son Greg and then heading to work early the next morning are his clearest memories.

“I was 28 when Greg was born,” he said.

“It’s all so different now. And Gabby is a good sleeper.”

Gabby’s maternal grandmother is also on hand to help the couple keep up with the busy toddler.

The Herald Sun first met Dr Levin in 2006 when he was 74 years young and had been injecting human growth hormone for 10 years.

At the time he said the “youth juice” made him feel 40 again.

His daily routine included an hour at the gym and two of study before going to his practice for six hours.

Good nutrition supported by multivitamins, fish oil, amino acids and antioxidants were also key to ensuring a better quality of life as he aged.

Dr Levin has now dedicated most of the past 20 years to sharing his anti-ageing advice with patients ahead of their golden years.

He estimates he has treated 1200 people and would like to see HGH prescribed to “everyone over 60” with low levels of the naturally occurring peptide.

“I use what’s called the glucagon test, before prescribing the growth hormone,” Dr Levin says.

“I’ll only give it to patients who have low levels.”

His belief in the need for wide use of human growth hormone in those over 60 is not shared by the Endocrine Society of Australia (ESA).

“Ageing isn’t a disease,” ESA president Associate Professor Shane Hamblin says.

“The anti-ageing movement is a philosophy, not a science.”

He says there is no scientific evidence to suggest human growth hormone is beneficial to healthy, ageing patients.

“Only a niche population medically requires growth hormone, for example someone who has had a pituitary tumour or been in a car accident and received a head injury that has impacted the pituitary gland,” Professor Hamblin says.

He warns too much of the peptide could be dangerous.

“It can cause colorectal cancer, hypertension (high blood pressure), osteoporosis (brittle bones), sleep apnoea and fluid retention.”

The Medical Practitioners Board launched an investigation into Dr Levin’s professional conduct in 2009, after it was revealed he was prescribing HGH to about 100 people.

A spokesperson for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA) says the authority cannot comment on matters relating to individual practitioners beyond information already on the public record.

However, APHRA has confirmed Dr Levin had conditions on his registration between 2010 and 2018, meaning he can only prescribe growth hormone therapy to patients with documented adult onset growth hormone deficiency.

The deficiency has to be “clearly demonstrated by at least one or two specific tests”, which includes the glucagon test, or as recommended by a specialist endocrinologist.

Dr Levin says the investigation took two and a half years.

“In the end they said I was a pretty good doctor,” he says.

The challenges to his beliefs will not slow him down, he adds.

“I’m not here to slow down. I’m here to speed up how we think about ageing – and what we can do about it,” Dr Levin says.

“The wellness industry is now a trillion-dollar global force, yet anti-ageing isn’t even taught in most medical schools. That needs to change.”

Originally published as Anti-ageing expert Dr John Levin is a dad again at 93-years-old – this is how he plans to see his son’s major life milestones