At what age do you think people should complete their childbearing?

Question

I read Advanced Paternal Age, How old is too old? By Isabelle Bray et.al on the internet. Its a paper concerned about the health risks of late childbearing including birth defects cancer and schizophrenia in the offspring.

The above problems are mostly associated the rising average age of the father at birth of the child.

Answer 1

This is very debatable, especially in the present day with all the talk of IVF treatment for older women. It used to be that a woman who was 30 and having her first baby, would have 'Elderly Primagravida' written on her notes. Elderly at 30!! Now many women are delaying starting a family until well into their 30s and even waiting until 40. Nature looks after a woman by ceasing egg production, but of course men can continue fathering children for what seems like forever and I think this is where the risks that you're speaking of can arise. I personally wouldn't have welcomed a pregnancy after I was 35; pregnancy makes lots of demands upon the body, then there's the actual birth, followed by nights of broken sleep and the sheer amount of energy expended in bringing up a child. This is all followed by the traumas of the teenage years, which I'm sure must be more difficult to cope with once you're past 50.

Answer 2

I'm nearly 35 and having my first. I would have had a baby earlier but infertility made it impossible.

I'm fine health wise - I'm a trained dancer and healthier and slimmer than most 21 year olds. I have had an uncomplicated pregnancy and tested low risk for Downs Syndrome and other health problems in my baby.

And I fully intend to have at least one more baby in the next few years - I'll probably be about 37 or 38 when I have the next one.

My mum had me at 36 (my dad was 52). I sure as hell don't have "cancer, birth defects or schizophrenia"! She had my brother at 41 (my dad was 58!) again, no problems at all, easy births and pregnancy, didn't even get morning sickness with ether of us.

My grandmother had her kids at 36, 38 and 40 in the days before advanced medical technology. Three healthy pregnancies and trouble free births, three big healthy babies with no problems.

Noone in the family has schizophrenia or any other birth defect!!!!

So I really feel a bit resentful when people say these things to be honest. Its not always possible or a good idea to have kids in your 20s.

Answer 3

I'm 34 and I have an 18 month old and I'm 4 months pregnant. Part of me wishes I would have had them sooner so that I would be younger while they are growing up, and part of me is glad it didn't happen until now. I'm more emotionally ready than I would have been 10 years ago. It all depends on the individual person. I won't be having any more though because of possible risks.

Answer 4

I think that younger is better, definetely under 40. My boyfriend is 21 years old and his dad is over 70 and he hates it. He gets alot of anxiety because he thinks he has to achieve so much when he's young so his dad can be there for it. Being an older parent makes it very hard to bond with your children and especially to know what they are going through because the world changes so quickly and what they went through as a kid will not be the same as when their son or daughter is growing up.

Answer 5

I think 40 should be the absolute limit, I was 23 and 25 when I had my children and feel that this was a nice age as I wasn't too old as they were growing up.

Answer 6

Who's really to say. It's all about each individuals views. Some women think that women who have their babies in their early 20s are having them too young and not giving the women enough time to establish a career, while other women feel women who have them later in life put their careers ahead of a family. I think when a women is emotionally ready to take on the task is when she should have her children. LOVE and a good home are really all that's important in raising children.

Answer 7

i think around 35-40 after that its time for grandchildren and being able to pass them back at the end of the day. my mother in law is 45 she has a little girl of 7mths and just found out shes pregnant again i think its stupid concidering she dont evan want this 1 and can just about look after the other.

Answer 8

depends on how healthy and fit you are. a friend of mine is super healthy and had a healthy baby at 38. But i read somewhere that 24 to 28 are the best years for child bearing, and coincidently, i had my first child at 24 and my second at 28.

Answer 9

i would say 40s as it isn't fair on the child if the Parent is for example 50, when the child is 20 the parent will be 70. xx

Answer 10

when your body says you cant have anymore. if you are still able to have children at sixty then why not! there are some active sixty year old like peggy and jone collin.and some of these people are much more able to look after and love children then us younger ones. just take a look at our grandparents and the amount of kids and grandkinds they are letf to look after and they still have energy to cook and clean and do other stuff in between.