best age to get pregnant?

Pretty sure this is the same OP who asked us the other day if he should take a chance on “making a kid” with a “divorced mother”.

Biologically it's 20-24, but the age cohort after this (25-29) is very very similar statistically in terms of fertility, obstetric outcome etc. So your 20s, basically.

Fertility is actually lower in the teens, and the risk of many obstetric complications and genetic anomalies are also raised in teenagers. They decline in the late teens (they are at their lowest around 20-24) and then begin to risk again, slowly, just shy of 30. Fertility doesn't start to decline noticeably until the early 30s in the average healthy woman, and doesn't substantially until the mid-to-late 30s. Even at 40, most healthy women can still conceive naturally within a couple of years, although inevitably both fertility and general obstetric fitness are greatly reduced from the peak.

So broadly, somewhere between about 19 and about 30/31 is the best to shoot for from a biological or clinical POV. The standard advice is that all things considered, it's best to aim to have your first by 35.

It’s different for everyone I think

Enjoying not annoying!

Well this is going to be different for everyone isnt it! I was 26 for first DD, a couple of years into my career so not earning that much. DH a few years older so was doing okay money wise. Physically it was a good time - I had a difficult birth but no lasting effects from that. I felt fairly energetic when she was a baby and toddler. Had second DC at 29 .
We didn't have loads of money but had e enough. Fast forward DC are now 7 and 4.5 and we're in a great position. Still youngish and energetic , more money than we've ever had as been promoted and childcare is over , really annoying this stage of our lives so a bit younger has worked for us

40

For me it was 37.

& I’ve had pretty much the opposite experience from @1Micem0use - ten years older but my pregnancy has been physically easy, I just wasn’t ready. At 26 I was living in a flat share and in a slightly unstable job - it would have been a bad time for me to have a baby then. The age that works for you is hugely variable and depending on so many factors it is impossible to say.

Every person and pregnancy is different.
I'm 26. Seen a lot of comments suggesting this is the ideal time physically, but not financially, or emotionally.
In actual fact the physical side of things is what's been dreadful, and everything else is golden.
Prior to being pregnant I was on a sports team, part of a hiking group, and a HIIT workout team.
During pregnancy I found myself passing out fully clothed, with the lights on, after yoga. I threw up about 4 times a day for over a month. I might as well live on the toilet the amount I wee.
If the physical side of things is drastically worse for older women then I'm one and done.

Probably won't be a popular response - but when you find the right man and you both want to become parents. It's a journey you take together, you're a tag team so your relationship needs to be in a good place because it really is an adventure with ups and downs and bumps along the way. I started having children at 36 but that was because it all clicked at the right time. Age was nothing to do with it, it was all about where we were as a couple.

Meant to say some people were pessimistic about me having her when I was quite young and said what about doing stuff for yourself....trave, etc. But I wouldn’t really have had the money to,do stuff like that then anyway.

I was 23yo and that was good for me. I love the fact that now I’m in my early 40s and she’s an adult and although she’s still at home she’s pretty much independent. And I’m still plenty young enough to do stuff I didn’t do when I was younger like travelling, plus I’ve got the money to do it.

25

as long as you're happily married, it doesn't matter how old you are :-)

Whut. Don’t even know where to begin with that one.

In answer to the OP and their ridiculous question bet she to get pregnant is Twenty Onety Sixteenths Years and Fifty Twentiety monthsey milliseconds.

HTH

I'd say mid 20s would have been perfect for me

as long as you're happily married, it doesn't matter how old you are :-)

Mid 20s - mid 30s. Just IMO.

On balance early to mid 30's for most, though I was in my 20's and coped fine emotionally and financially, not everyone can though. Much later than you are running an increasing risk of not being able to have kids naturally - though (unlucky me) I'm still fertile at 47 apparently (and don't want to be)

I was pregnant at 29 and 35. I was more prepared and healthier and had a better pregnancy at 35 but the following years have been tougher as I’m tireder and needing to work more as he’s my last, I’m not so patient as I was doing it first time round.

Also the risk of obstetric fistula is greater the younger the women is.

Young teens can be more prone to complications such as pre-eclampsia.

Biologically it's definitely early twenties. Fertility very slowly starts to decline thereafter, especially at 30 and again at 35. The words of my GP and also confirmed by expert on a documentary.

However life is obviously not that simple! I had my baby at 28 and that was the perfect time for us. Lots of women have babies late thirties and early forties these days.

There are no straightforward answers to your questions!

I conceived dd (only child) at 36. If I'd known it was going to be as easy as it was too concieve (3 months) I would have preferred to have waited a few more years.

So I'm going to say 39 as best age to get pregnant. Career established, financially secure. With a few more years we could have done a bit more traveling and more work on the house (which is now on hold).