To be surprised at someone being pregnant at 44

I mean it’s definitely unlikely from a fertility perspective but not impossible. There will be plenty of people that age who try and don’t get pregnant, but that doesn’t mean for those it works for is weird. And most people I know have kids over 35. I had mine at 37, 39 and about to try for my third at 41. However, I am using frozen embryos this time, frozen when I was 37 (from the round I had my first, my second was a surprise!)

I was 40 and 44 when had mine but did also have 5 mc, and a DS scare, and so while it was without intervention it was with a lot of heartbreak and anguish.

Op yes I think I’d be shocked if a friend got pregnant at 44. Obviously it’s not impossible.
But, Out of everyone I know, I only have one friend who fell pregnant at 42 and that was her first baby with a partner she met later in life.

most other people seem to be either knackered, peri menopausal OR just starting to find themselves and feel good again now their kids are a little older and less reliant on them so I would be surprised if most of them
chose to have a baby at 44.

I so bought into the whole diminishing fertility thing that I was a bit casual with contraception - I got pregnant at 41 and had my child at 42. At the time, I’d had sex twice the with my then partner.

I wish you well but having been through the fertility process - science says a woman’s fertility drops off dramatically after 35. It’s not about regular periods it’s about egg quality. Is it impossible to get pregnant older? Yes of course - I know someone who fell pregnant naturally at 54. But I am also sorry to say I know lots more women who struggled in their late 30s. I encourage you to research the science, because if you did your only conclusion would be that yes it’s possible but the odds are greatly reduced so bare that in mind when making future plans.

@Boots89 gently, I agree you don’t know if it will be easy for you. You sound rather naive.
Regardless of age, many people struggle and if you’ve been 7 stone overweight for a period of time that may have had an impact on your health. I wish you all the best though.

This is from google-

Women over 40 are having more babies than the under 20s for in the first time in nearly 70 years. These are official figures for England and Wales.
There were 697,852 live births in 2015.
There were 15.2 births per 1,000 women aged over 40, compared with just 14.5 per 1,000 women in their twenties.
The last time the over 40s had the higher fertility rate was in 1947, in the wake of WWII.

I had my first at 37 and my second at 40.

I would say 44 is quite rare, but past 35? Ridiculous! Loads of people have babies between 35 and 40.

Really?

When my mum had my youngest sister age 37, she was deemed an "elderly multigravida" 🤣 she gave birth in a maternity home and was kept in for about a week. There were several other mums in there 40s in there who had thought they were on the menopause.Turns out they were all preggers
🤣🥰

Dh's grandmother gave birth to his mum when she was 44 in the 1930s so not a new thing.

My grandmother gave birth to my dad at the age of 47. My other grandmother had her last at the age of 42, her husband died shortly afterwards, so had he lived there could have been more. I was 40 when I had my last. A colleague had her only child at 46 after thinking she would have none. Years of trying and she thought she was menopausal. A surprise baby. If a woman is menstruating she can get pregnant. Why is that a surprise to you?

My friend had her second set of twins at 47. Her first set were 17!

34 and 37 for me, I’m 42 now and would definitely consider 44 very late for a first baby. We started trying for our first at 31, took us 3 years TTC, I was also young and healthy. We were lucky that we didn’t need intervention in the end although we did do some tests and my husband had to make some lifestyle changes. Second baby took just two months of trying.

Ridiculous post.

I had poor ovarian reserve at 30. I was told by the consultant that I’d struggle to conceive without ivf. My two were not conceived by ivf in the end. DS1 at 33 and DS2 at 40. My friend had hers at almost 41 and 44. I understand that it is not rare for the ovaries to make a sort of last minute effort to release eggs in the years before menopause.

I wouldn’t expect to conceive easily after 35 but plenty of us do manage it. Although pp are reporting their own/close circle’s experiences, I was told by a senior nurse at Liverpool Womens that she was seeing plenty of women conceiving and carrying to term at 40 plus after previous mcs.

Current data indicates that the number of parents giving birth who are aged 40 and over has surpassed the number of teenagers giving birth. I had my second at 45 with no issues, as did an aunt of mine decades ago. It's not "only on MN" since there are vast continents full of people out there who are not active on MN, who are happily having children in their 40s. In Spain for instance, the numbers are increasing significantly. I think there was a time when having children in your 40s was not considered safe due to many factors. But with modern medicine and care, ovulation predictors, and early detection of dangerous pregnancies have all made a significant difference.However, even in the pre-contraceptive era about 10% of all pregnancies were in women over 40.

Not so long 29 was called a geriatric pregnancy.

Ignorant

I feel no need to comment on ops post , and although no common . Women can enter an early natural menopause , I was 36 when it happened .

In real life yeah in mumsnet world no

Are you talking about Paloma Faith?

It is very area and culture dependent. In my area, which is working class and in the middle of England, 42 would be pretty remarkable. It would usually be someone having a third baby with a new partner or something. Most people have one or two kids when they're between 25 and 32ish.

My group of friends is turning 40 over the next couple of years and we mostly have one or two kids in upper primary. We'd be horrified to get pregnant now.

It is a joke thread because they haven’t provided any context for their question. What their age is or where/how they live.

@Onempretime7788 I’m afraid this type of question suggests you’re either quite old and not kept up with how the world around you has changed since back in your day - most women needing to work, lots of households unable to manage on one income, expensive childcare, family further away to support, more/better career opportunities for women amongst many other reasons.
Or you live a very very sheltered life where you aren’t aware or see any of how all of the above influences a large majority in the wider population to have to push having children to later.
Is it one of those, or can you provide more context as to why this is a surprise to you and made you ask the question?