To wonder why up to 35 is now considered young

I’m not sure that is exactly what I said? The evidence you’ve linked doesn’t appear to be of particularly high quality. Obstetrics journals, national guidelines, meta-analysis? It remains that the NHS classify all women having first babies of 35 or over as high risk, and use age to predict success and thus availability of IVF. I don’t think we’re persuading each other so let’s just agree to have a different opinion, it’s all very arbitrary anyway.

• marker not market

I think 25 was once considered a key market because doesn’t your skin/body gradually start aging from that point on? It’s minuscule and gradual, but isn't there a biological change?

That could be complete bunkum so I’ll let a medical person correct me- but I thought I read it somewhere.

Anyway, I’m quite happy to be a middle-aged 46. My 40’s are great so don’t be afeared of them.😄

I should point out that you did say you shouldn't consider exactly 40 middle age, but then said that anything before 35 could still be considered young, but exactly 35 was middle age in your view. It be different if nearly every census didn't define middle age as being in the 40s but it does. Just seems like you want to believe it's in the middle. And that's fine. But despite saying people could think they're young at 35 if they want, you've been pushing the opposite idea really, really hard.

Anyway, the term geriatric pregnancy is outdated, and I did show plenty of resources debunking the common ideas of pregnancy at that age.

My main point is that I don't think your life is half finished at that age and you still have a long life ahead of you.

Millennials are considered as not-quite-adults to older generations

Is it also in part that your perception has changed as you’ve got older? As someone pointed out teenagers still think over 35 is ancient!

Being middle aged and an older adult is completely fine. We should accept it more. I'm early 40s so middle aged. Still doing martial arts, good point in my career, lots of built up knowledge from life experience that I assume will only deepen as I age further.

Yes, there are age related illnesses and body processes I will encounter but the youth arnt that much fitter or healthier either. We shouldn't fear getting older and we shouldn't be so disrespectful and disregarding of those who are older.

Because 35 now is different to 35 many years ago.

The couple of medical studies you have chosen are diseases that usually happen to older adults, it’s a comparative thing. As someone has rightly pointed out if you’re over 35 having your first child you’d be labelled as a geriatric mother. In most cases medically speaking you are a young adult (teens to mid twenties ish), adult or elderly. Maybe that would be a better definition for most people.

Having a child in your early twenties is not particularly unusual if you look at the country as a whole.

At 40, I had three living grandparents, and the one no longer alive drowned in an accident when I was four. Now 64, and clearly middle-aged (but not aged) we have three out of four parents still with us, two in decent fettle for their mid-80s. But many of my forebears reached their 80s before the NHS began, so I have probably inherited some robust genes.

@Lex01
"It would be very odd for someone in this day and age to have a child in their early 20s in this day and age."

It is still quite usual in deprived/lower educational attainment/wage areas. That statement shows that you aren't mixing with a wide variety of people.

While I agree that the fertility window is longer because of increased health, I don't know why clearblue are making the biologically incorrect statement that peak fertility is in your late 20/30s (pushing an agenda perhaps?) it's late teenage/early twenties. A lot less women will be able to have children if they put them off past middle 30's, without intervention and perhaps not at all. So it depends on how much you want to give birth, on when you should start ttc. Even IVF is more successful in your early 30's as opposed to your late 30's. I've had three family members go through IVF. It isn't an easy option.

30 now is a lot 'younger' than when I was 30. As is every age. Choices have increased in all aspects of life, so I think the outdated need to give everything a label, needs to go.

I think the government here want people to see 35 as young as that excuses their decision to raise the age when you can get housing benefit/allowance for a one bedroom place, rather than shared accommodation, to 35.

"As a 35 year old you wouldn’t be tagged as a young adult in general, medically speaking"

my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16805-breast-cancer-in-young-women

"Women who are under 40 years old may feel they are not at risk for breast cancer, but 5% of all cases happen in this group. Diagnosis can be more difficult due to breast tissue density."

"Over 35 most people are not going to say is young when you could legally have a child in their early 20s and the majority will have children, mortgage, have been working for 15-20 years."

It would be very odd for someone in this day and age to have a child in their early 20s in this day and age. I think societally, perceptions have changed of age along with an increase in life expectancy, making previous ideas of age stages outdated.

I'm not 35 yet. I'm a few years off it, but I don't believe life is half over then. Not with all the people I know achieving new things in their 70s and even 80s.

"I think some people are in denial🤣 there’s really nothing wrong with being middle aged! "

Obviously not, but your life wouldn't half over at that point, if that's how you define middle age. Not in developed nations, that is.

Whatever term you use, you’re still 35! If you want to think of yourself as a young adult then that’s fine. Most on here are from UK I think

I think some people are in denial🤣 there’s really nothing wrong with being middle aged! People will have their own definition. Pretty much everyone will say under 30 is young, between 30 and 35 will differ. Over 35 most people are not going to say is young when you could legally have a child in their early 20s and the majority will have children, mortgage, have been working for 15-20 years. There’s no medical definition either, if you’re talking about conditions that usually affect older people then yes 40 may be labelled young- for that condition. As a 35 year old you wouldn’t be tagged as a young adult in general, medically speaking

I don't know why so many on here want to make 35 older than it is. But I'm guessing most of the people on here are American, and it's a cultural thing. People have different perceptions of ages in different cultures.

It's not really about age, is it. Someone at 25 can look far, far worse than someone at 35. Until one is eligible for a free bus pass, age is just a number in ones passport .

babyology.com.au/pregnancy/getting-pregnant/fertility/wait-are-experts-actually-wrong-about-female-fertility-after-the-age-of-35/