Posted on 12/08/2016 4:27:03 PM PST by Vision
My mom was 39 when she had me. She is now a pretty spry 99 and doing just fine. I was healthy as a horse.
!Samual 1:20 Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God for him.”
It’s a Gen 3 world. Nothing is safe except the love of Jesus Christ.
That is a tricky question and depends on what you mean by “safe”.
Age 35 Down Syndrome risk 1/350
Age 40 Down Syndrome risk 1/90
Age 45 Down Syndrome risk 1/30
1/30 is pretty good low for most things (although Down Syndrome is not the only increased risk). Do you count that as “safe” though?
I’ve always heard it’s best if done by the age of 40. There are plenty of exceptions, of course. Why?, If I may ask. You sound as though you do not believe that 35 is the right answer. Do you have some vested interest in the ‘right answer’ being older than 35?
Or is this purely an academic , hypothetical exercise?
It varies depending on the person. After 35 there is an increased risk for many women for Down’s Syndrome but most of it is scare tactics.
I had my first right before my 44th birthday and while considered ‘high risk’ had an easy pregnancy with no complications.
I think the optimal biological age is far earlier than most people these days are emotionally and financially ready to have a baby. My mom had 3 kids after 35 (my youngest sibling was born when my mom was about 45) and they’re all perfectly healthy. The “experts” say that the risks go up after 35 though, and biologically I guess that makes sense, but I’m no expert.
The statistics are based on a bell curve.
You could have a healthy child up to menopause. The question is: do I feel lucky? The risks increase, and the odds of having a child with problems goes up. It’s not a guarantee you will have a disabled child, just an elevated risk. The next question is what kind of disabilities are more likely.
My Sister-in-Law had two children after 40. They were both fine.
What happens if an elderly gets pregnant in old age and she won’t survive the passing of a child?
Got judgment?
My mom was 42 when I was born, my dad was 53. (I was definitely an oversight). I had three full siblings, 20, 18 and 14. They were wonderful parents and the only down side is that both my parents are gone and so are my two brothers and sister, I miss them every day.
Risk factors increase dramatically after age 35, however, women have had safe healthy pregnancies up until menopause ... this was rather more common before contraception.
I know a woman who gave birth to healthy son at age 53. He was a surprise baby. Her next youngest child was 28 at the time.
My daughter in law, at age 47, just gave birth to my third grandson. The hardest part was getting pregnant. Nature took over from there. Baby is a handsome little guy, if I do say so myself.
I married at 30, sadly lost my first two babies, and had my other three at ages 33, 34 & 36. I remember a neonatologist telling me why 35 was the “magic age” — something about the risk to the mother was statistically equal to the risk of a birth defect...? I can’t remember exactly, but I do remember thinking that, given what he said, the whole panic about 35 was a little overblown. OTOH, if a couple is lucky enough to find each other in their 20s, but thinks waiting til their 30s is the right time for kids, I’d say no, no, no, DO IT NOW.
There’s a current Mick Jagger thread about him welcoming his eighth at 72 or however old he is.
The odds of various genetic defects go up around age 35, and fertility drops over very fast at that point such that there’s only a 5% chance per month of natural conception at 40. That’s compared to 20% per month when the woman is in her 20s.
It is a cruel misinformation campaign that feminists say dedicate yourself to career and then try to find a mate in your 30s to raise a child with just as sexual appeal and fertility are falling. The horror is the number of women freezing eggs in their mid-to-late 30s when the biological clock to have a baby gets loud enough, just as the clock is literally winding down.
This isn’t a sexist statement, I’m a woman, and I had feminists tell me I was hurting women’s status in STEM by downshifting a career to have two children in my twenties. Yet I have children, as I’ve seen some of these women struggle with infertility, live single and alone but hoping for a mate, sometimes having ONE child before the door closes.
.
There’s no limit if they’re fertile.
My former MIL was 65 when she gave birth to my ex, on a farm in Utah, 100 miles from the nearest hospital.
Her eldest daughter had a child at 59.
.
I had my youngest a few days before I turned 39. Before conceiving her I lost a baby early in the second trimester. About 1 1/2 years after her birth I lost a baby boy halfway through the pregnancy-early genetic testing and a state required autopsy revealed absolutely nothing wrong with him. Was it my age causing these painful losses? Could it also have been an undiagnosed thyroid disease? Maybe both?
My OB told me that every pregnancy is a crap shoot-an indelicate way of stating that you never know what might happen.
But God knows and there are plenty of healthy babies born to older moms, it just doesn’t always go as we had hoped. I still miss the babies I lost-it’s particularly hard to end on a loss after seeing an active baby boy on the ultra sound. Were I younger I could have the hope of another, but at 42 with new health concerns it’s not to be.
I guess the emotional side also gets riskier with age. I do, however, have the comfort of knowing I have three children (miscarriage in my twenties) I’ll get to meet in heaven :).
Maybe the better question would be: How old will you be when you are having to put up with the kid’s teen-aged drama? Best to ask before they get here.
Rajo Devi gave birth when she was 70.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.