Birth Rates for Older Women Rising

I had my first at 35 and my second at 39. I do not think I would do anything differently. The main reason for not having a child until 35 was that I did not get married until I was 33. By waiting longer, I was able to do lots of things - I traveled and partied and did many things that are difficult with children. I lived on my own, bought my own property was independent and mature by the time I married and had children.

Some of the advantages of waiting until you are older - you tend to have more patience, you are more financially secure and are ready in a sense to slow down and stay home with the kids. The disadvantages I feel are more on the physical side. It takes a lot of energy and work to be pregnant and give birth. It takes a lot of energy to get down and play with the kids.

I was 26 when I had my first child.

That's not too early in my opinion, in the sense that, at 26, I was already a responsible person, with a secure job. At the same time, the lower age difference means that the generation gap is not as wide and improves communication, specially if the parent keeps a young attitude.
But it was too early in another sense. I married at 23, which was waaaay too young, lost chances of doing things I now know I would have liked, and ended the relationship in a divorce.
Now that my oldest son is 23, I both enjoy the communication benefits and realize how stupidly early in life did I marry.

I was 30 when my second son was born and 39 when my daughter was born.
As I see things now, 30 is perhaps the ideal age, and 39 is not bad at all... so it's only logical that people -and specially women- wait until their thirties to be parents.

I hope my kids wait until their thirties... I don't want to be a grandfather too soon

I hear/read about this since a couple of years now.

Here, in Germany, people seem to have forgotten the period from 1945 to 54:
since men were either dead, POW's or too young, the average age of women getting their first child was well above 30.
(When I went to school, I had the youngest mother of all us 48 boys: my mother was 29, when I was born.
When my sister went to school three years later, my mother was still the third but youngest from 52 girls. [My sister is three years younger than I am.])

I thought the same way you do, fbaezer. Problem is, fertility rates seriously decline starting at age 30.

Due to an early divorce at age 24 and remarriage at age 28, I was in my early 30s when I finally became settled enough to consider having a child. Neither of us had any medical complications that we knew of, but we went through numerous fertility problems and two miscarriages, and we were ultimately told we had less than a 5% chance. Against the odds, our son was born when we were 39 and 40. We were lucky. But it wasn't easy.

All the doctors told us that the prime ages for having children (physically speaking) are the late 20s. I believe that now. It's been tough taking care of a small child at our ages, and it has taken its toll on our health.

My opinion on the physical side is if you keep yourself healthy overall - I used to work out 4 times a week for an hour or more and ate pretty healthy. I had no problems getting pregnant even though I had my oldest at 39 and my pregnancies were uneventful. The only issue I have now (and any younger moms that I know have the same problem) is feeling tired; I rarely get enough sleep now. However, everyone's body is different and there is no way to tell if you are going to have issues getting pregnant or with your pregnancy until it happens. Overall I feel that you are mentally better prepared to have a child at an older age, but on average physically better prepared to have a child at a younger age.

That's a fact, Linkat. There really is no perfect time.

I agree with Linkat. I had my son when I was 20. Physically, I certainly had the energy to care for a child, but emotionally, I was still a kid. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have handled my parenting differently. Nevertheless, my son has turned out fine, despite me. :wink:

I grew up on the cusp, in between June Cleaver and Gloria Steinem. In those years, most of the girls that I knew, married early, had a child or children, and then got divorced. I was no exception.

When I remarried, I stayed home with my son for a number of years, and returned to college and graduate school in my thirties. I really did not begin my professional career until I was close to 40.