How old is too old to have a baby?

At 57???
Is that even possible.
You will be in your 70s with a teenager.

My cut off is 31. Mainly for the reason i had my first at 21 and second at 26. I'm almost 30 and really contemplating a 3rd.

30, I wouldn't make an omelette with old eggs never mind a baby.

I had mine 26, 28,36 and 38. My youngest 21 now, I absolutely do not regret it. More patience as I got older but I never had or wanted "me" time. I always wanted a large family and feel so lucky to have four healthy kids. We are all very close too.

I think after mid 40s I would have some concerns around health/tiredness, etc.

It's so interesting reading the replies - what people consider normal very much depends on their social circle. I know more women who've had babies in their early 40s than I have those who've had them in their 20s. I think 30s seem like the 'best' time, based on my own subjective experience - but everyone is different and will have a different 'best' (or possible) time.

I think it depends on the woman, I mean generally once you get to near your 50's (if you're not menopausal) it's not the best idea! But I had my first at 26, second at 32 and last at 40, the first pregnancy was ok, second was terrible and the third a total breeze so being a lot older wasn't an issue.

Such a lovely story!!

I had my DS at 39. In an ideal world I'd have had him about 35.

Had my last at 35 and even then felt old. My sister had a baby at 43 and now has a very active 7 year old at 50 and she is shattered. She was really upset last month when someone asked her is she was my niece’s nan. That’s happened a few times. I wouldn’t mind but I think she looks great and nowhere near 50!

Personally I would hate to be doing school pickups in my 50’s.

Depends on so many factors-your health, level of support from partner, even level of support from wider family. Plus the awareness that all these can change very quickly so the older you are (particularly if you have another young child) the more chances you're taking. Plus the knowledge that the older you are the more chances of disability. If you have other young child(red) I think you must think very seriously about having another child past your late '30's.

35. Has my last aged 34. I felt enough was enough by that point.

Anytime after 40 i think is personally insane. Although my cut would be up to 35

Depends what you mean. Too old physically? When you've finished menopause. Too old practically? How longs a piece of string

Nature gives us a pretty wide window for a good reason. Different women have different needs. If you start your period at 13 and you finish them at 50 then I'd shave five years off each end and say ball park anywhere between 18 and 45 is ideal. I was older at 34/36/38 and I do feel think on how old I'll be when my youngest is 40 - will I still be around ect but then I see my mum struggling to look after her mum. There's only 18 years between them and it's hard on mum who's almost 70 trying to look after an almost 90 yo and I'm not sure I'd want my kids struggling to care for me when they should be enjoying retirement. Swings and roundabout's.

There seems to be at least one of these threads a week. I think nature decides when you're too old. Most women can't conceive or carry a pregnancy to full term past about 43. Yes some do but most will struggle. That to me is nature saying "You're too old".
I had mine at 35 and 38. All I wanted was to have children so I would most definitely have been trying in my 40s if I didn't have children by then.
However, I do wish I'd had them earlier. My children have limited time with their grandparents, obviously they have less time with us too. Raising kids during menopause is hard.
I think one issue is women often feel fantastic in their late 30s and early 40s. I felt brilliant when I had my second at 38. I felt no different to when I was 25. However, many women (not all) are about to hit a pretty rough period of perimenopause and menopause. Going through that with young kids is hard and exhausting.
I'm 50 very soon and have a teenage daughter and 11 year old son. Thanks to peri, I have insomnia, Brain fog, anxiety, low energy. It would just have been better to raise children when I was younger.

I agree it's going to be different for everyone.

I had my first at 24 and my second at 31.

I wasn't sure I wanted another and decided at 30 I'd give it a go. But only gave myself that year. If it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have done it any older than that.

My youngest has just gone to university. I wouldn't want to be bringing up a child now.

I had my girls (twins) at 32. Hubby was 43.

I think 40 would be my cut off as a woman - more because i couldn’t personally imagine being 50 with a 10yr old. Not sure it matters for men (as long as they are still fit n healthy).

I would have drawn the line at 40, both in terms of my health and thr baby's health (plus likelihood of conceiving without considerable heart ache every month). I had one of mine at 32, and one at 38.

I had mine at 39 and 41 and I'm so glad I didn't have them earlier. Just the right age for me

This is the crux. I am an older parent but very healthy, financially secure, happily married, strong extended family, flexible work. I think that some younger people may have more problems than I do due to lacking these supports. But I would still not be an older mother by choice, if only I had been able to conceive when younger. I am just lucky that circumstances allowed older parenthood to be pretty straightforward for me.

If fit enough 45ish. Though if you can have one without intervention later then who's to say it's too old? My friend had hers at 46 (after being married at 29 she'd pretty much given up), and Cherie Blair at 48...
I didn't meet my DH til I was 39 and had mine at 41 and 43. Sure it would have been nice to have them younger but life doesn't always respond well to deadlines.

There are two aspects to balance when choosing to have children: biological and social. Biologically, everyone would agree that younger is usually better, so say ages 18-30. Socially, a lot of women don’t feel they are in a secure enough place to have children young.

In a perfect world, I would have aimed to have children around ages 25-35 probably. However, my life circumstances meant that I’m actually having them around 40. Being married, financially stable and with the ability to stay home with any children while they are young were important factors to me so I’m doing it later (and it’s working out well).

I agree with you. I had my first at 21 and second at 22. 30 would be too old for me to have another imo. It’s not an ‘old’ age but it’s ‘old’ in the sense that I can’t be arsed at that age

I thought it was over 35.