How old is too old to have a baby?

@Gummybear23 well we do seem to be very fertile in my family, but that would be pushing it. 😂😂

I do understand the comments about health being an older parent and kids losing their parents when they are still relatively young but awful things can happen at any age:

A friend of mine was just 14 when she lost her mum to breast cancer - her mum was only 36 years old!

Another friend of mine is in her early 40's and has just been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, in a matter of months she's gone from very fit and active to wheelchair bound. Her kids are 11 and 8.

On the other side, I know women in great shape in their 60's, 70's and beyond.

You really truly don't know what life has in store for you and can only make the decisions you feel are right for you at that moment in time.

I wouldn’t have after 35 max. But I was done by 25 anyway.

I based it off how old would I be when they hit 20 and 55 with a 20 old didn’t sound bad. 55 with a 10 year old sounded pretty horrible.

Biologically you can go till you just cannot conceive/carry to term but logically you have to think about the possible child head over heart stuff.

Why insane ?

Yes I would have liked to be younger then almost 44 when gave birth but Mother Nature had other ideas

But

I'm healthy. Have a good well paid career. Own home

If you had when young 20's/early 30's then people reply over 40 is too late

If struggle ttc like me and takes 10yrs and a lot of ivf then overjoyed to give birth at almost 44

Yes a risk the baby may have sn

Equally my friend had her baby at 32 and has Down syndrome

So no reason why as certainly wasn't age

I think if still having periods and feel you can cope then Go ahead

Your DH's Mum must still have died relatively young. Even she had him at 50 she would have be 65 when she died which is no age these days. I'm so sorry he lost his parents young and ended up in care.

You stopping at 25 so as not to risk disability was VERY cautious. It's true that the risk increases as you get older, but in otherwise healthy parents things such risks don't really increase until your mid 30s.

I had my children quite late - my first was at 33 and my second at 37. Ideally, I would have had both of mine before 30. However, my definite cut-off is 40.

I honestly think this depends on the individual and so many different factors. Plus it's very easy to answer this when you're young and 35+ seems ancient!

From age 22-36 I was with someone quite a bit older who already had kids of his own. I never wanted children and he didn't want anymore so it worked for those 14 years. I was just far too selfish, wanted to focus on my career and travel the world etc. Emotionally I think I was too immature to ever bring a child into my world and I have no regrets about not having children then at all.

A few months after my first marriage ended, I had a bit of a whirlwind romance with my now husband and I unexpectedly fell pregnant very early on in the relationship. 'Massive shock' doesn't even begin to describe it but we decided to keep the baby and make a proper go of it. I gave birth to DD1 at 37.

She turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me and the timing in my life was perfect.

Now I'm fast approaching 42 and nearly 21 weeks pregnant with our second DD.

Honestly, i never ever imagined this would be me - if you'd told me in my 20's I'd be a mum of 2 and would be having a baby at 42 I'd have laughed in your face - it wasn't even a slight possibility back then when i wasn't even planning to have kids full stop 😅 but here we are......

I had ds at 45. All good, conceived and delivered naturally, full term. DS was 8lb. I was fairly fit, low bmi, generally healthy.

Now he's 6' and studying three stem A'levels. I'm working full time. Life is good.

I coped fine, although I made a conscious decision after ds was born to build up my fitness because I didn't want ds to have an 'old lady mum'. I run and practice martial arts. I keep up. 🤗

I think if your body allows you to conceive and carry, and you look after yourself well, that tells you what is possible.

Many don't meet who they want kids with until older than you did.

If I never had a child and desperately wanted one the limit would be 45 if I was fit and healthy.

Otherwise 35.

I was 37 and 41 with my DCs. Although I have had no issues, 41 has felt on the old side. It’s not uncommon among my peers to have had kids past 40. I think id probably call 50 as being too old - it’s pretty unlikely and impossible by then! Otherwise it’s personal choice and circumstances.

40

I wouldn't have another now, I'm 43.
I'm saying that as a mum of 2 though, if I'd never had a child I would consider it at my age.
Tbh I think too old is when you physically can't anymore

Both DH and I wanted to have two before I was 25-26. We didn't anticipate needing fertility treatment, so DS came along when I was 25. We could have tried for another, but neither of us wanted to be older than that.

We had a few reasons. DH was the child of two elderly parents and had lost them both by the time he was 15, ending up in care. This had a massive impact on his life and he suffers with trauma-related illness now. He was also bullied at school for having elderly parents.

My main reasoning was the risk to the child. I know having a child at any age is a risk to both mother and baby, but the older you are, the more the risk. I'm not sure why people would want to bring children into the world, knowing there's a high chance of disability.

Also a nice bonus was that my parents were 50 when my DS was born, so he's been able to grow up with two very involved grandparents. I would hate for him to have missed out on that. Their bond is wonderful.

I'll send mine back then, shall I?

35 is my cut off, and to be honest I wouldn't want to be having a baby then but it's the 'oldest' I'd be willing to go. I already have 2 so won't need to worry about it anyway as don't want any more.
It is a very personal choice, I just don't want to be actively raising children as I start to think about retirement and saving more money instead of spending it on eduction-related fees, etc.

I'm 35 and I either fall pregnant while I am 35 or we don't have anymore. 35 has always been my cut off.

It also kind of depends on when you meet someone worth having kids with. I wouldn't have tied myself for life to any of the men I dated in my 20s by having a child with them. I was past 35 when I started dating "the one" !

Are you being serious? She never said she was having a baby at 57

ETA - just saw your update 😅

I was 38 and DH was 42. She’s worth it but there’s denying we’re absolutely knackered. We could both do with being 10-15 years younger.

@RobinEllacotStrike apologies I misread your post.
I understand now you meant another child in your 40s.

What a horrible ignorant comment

🙄

Some of us had an ideal age but infertility meant it was later than I would have liked. Waiting for the "I couldn't possibly have a baby past 30" brigade. We are considering a third. My husband is nearly mid fifties. It is different for different couples.