Jon Snow on hiring a surrogate in his 70s

[HermioneKipper]

How utterly vile. What a pair of entitled arses. That poor boy.

t.co/9GRwfsCiuP

Nobody deserves a baby. It is no-one’s right to have a baby. Medical issues do not make it your right to have a baby of your own. Only having two vaginas or only two penises do not make it your right to have a baby. Being 70 does not make it your right to have a baby.

Women’s bodies and their parts should not be for sale.

Stop buying babies!

I don’t agree with the surrogacy aspect but the age doesn’t bother me. They’re clearly able to financially provide for the child and will likely have more time and better levels of emotional maturity. I’d take fewer years with better parents any day than my own teenage parents with whom I’m actively NC.

I had my last at 43 (natural , easy pregnancy). Two of my great grandmothers had their last at 46 as did their mothers. Women have always had babies in their forties, pre contraception that was pretty normal.
So I don’t see the issue with any woman having children within her normal childbearing years. I am totally against surrogacy though.

A 70 year old man should NOT be having children. Poor child.

Agree.
I don't think there is any reason in any circumstance that can justify surrogacy.

Probably outsources parenting anyway

I feel sorry for the child tbh

Being older does not necessarily make you a better parent.

I couldn't even imagine.

I'm 43, my kids aren't babies anymore and I'm just tired, all the damn time.

I couldn't imagine having a newborn in 5 years time, let alone when I'm 70+.

But you must know how fleetingly rare being a mother at 46 is? There is a biological reason women's fertility falls off a cliff in their 40s. Clearly Jon Snow's wife couldn't get pregnant naturally.

This. Surrogacy is appallingly cruel and misogynistic, but so is some of the ageism on this thread.

Ageism? He’s in his 70s having a baby!

it’s not ageism it’s reality

I'm not convinced over the quality v quantity (of time) argument eg better to have a loving and devoted dad for 10 years than a rubbish one for 40 years. (Of course I feel sad and acknowledge it would be horrific and traumatic to have an abusive father of any age)
Having a child in your 70s will severely limit the years you have with them. Health or mobility problems or dementia, are not that unusual in late 70s or 80s, all of which will impact how involved a parent is. He is in good health in his mid 70s when the child is a baby/toddler, but what if the child can't remember those days and only remembers hospital appointments, health issues, or EOL care. (Of course those things can happen to younger parents - and would be traumatic for a child - but the odds are far greater in your 8th decade than your 4th or 5th)
My own dad was Very healthy, fit and active and able to look after my DC in his mid 70s. But he was very unwell and nearly died when he was 78 and after that I would have not felt confident in leaving them with him, in fact after a few years it was like he was an extra child to look after.

You know nothing Jon Show

Just because younger parents can be bad parents doesn’t make it ok to be bad parents for a different reason.

All kids deserve to have a childhood with two parents who are there to look after them for the entirety of it, and the fact that some parents die tragically young, or are incompetent or worse, doesn’t change the fact that Jon Snow and his wife have deliberately and knowingly brought a child into the world who is not going to grow up with a father.

And that’s leaving aside the surrogacy aspect which is disgusting.

I agree - I saw this yesterday and thought it was disgusting- “she deserves a baby.” Like she’s been really good so her rich husband will buy her a baby from some other woman’s body because he thinks she deserves it. The entitled wanker.

I’ve always thought he was a bit of a twat though so I’m not surprised.

A family member of a friend of mine had a baby using a surrogate from Ukraine. When the war started it had just been born and they were constantly going on about how worrying it was for them to try to get the baby out of the country safely. Funnily enough I never once heard them express any concern whatsoever for the poor woman whose womb they had rented, who was giving them the baby and then staying in a war zone.

Totally agree regarding the surrogacy. But I know quite a few who have had their babies into their 40s. You can’t say it’s wrong when it’s Mother Nature!

Mother Nature frequently fucks up. Babies born to older mothers have a higher risk of certain chromosomal conditions, such as Down syndrome. The risk of pregnancy loss is higher. The risk of miscarriage and stillbirth increases with age.

Sperm doesn’t improve with age either.

Like many I do't think anyone 'deserves' a child and 'm not in support of surrogacy (except perhaps in very limited, completely altruistic circumstances like a woman carrying a child for a sibling). Still have concerns about that too though. Going overseas for surrogates for money is ethically abhorrent. Also bothered by the argument that carrying a child not biologically connected 'makes it easier' to give up for the surrogate. I find that hard to believe but if it's true, it shows a level of dissociation which cannot be good for the surrogate's mental health. And that justification really does turn it into just 'incubation' and a monetary transaction then.

On age - the age gap between the oldest and youngest 'half' siblings in my family is 44 years. My father was in his mid 60's when my sibling and I were born and already seemed 'old' to us as kids. He died suddenly at 73. A friend (56) has a child of 21 with her husband - he is now nearly 81 and has children older than my friend. He's fit, if slowly down a bit, and still mentally active but that's luck as much as anything. My mother had dementia by the time she was 70 and it's not that uncommon.

@Blossomtoes Mother Nature frequently fucks up. Babies born to older mothers have a higher risk of certain chromosomal conditions, such as Down syndrome. The risk of pregnancy loss is higher. The risk of miscarriage and stillbirth increases with age.
So what are you actually suggesting? That older women are forcibly sterilised? Forced abortion? What in the actual hell are you saying you think should happen to stop haggard, useless old women from breeding?

@StepAwayFromGoogling But you must know how fleetingly rare being a mother at 46 is? There is a biological reason women's fertility falls off a cliff in their 40s. Clearly Jon Snow's wife couldn't get pregnant naturally.
It's irrelevant how likely successful a pregnancy will be for women in their 40s. The issue people have are the absolute hostility and vile judgement of people stating that having babies in one's 40s is bad. If someone gets pregnant in their 40s it is not some abomination. It's a blessing like any other wanted pregnancy.

All I did was state a fact. Sorry the truth offends you.

Is the risk of an ectopic higher as well.

Apparently it increases after 35.

I've always thought Jon Snow comes across as an entitled arse so his attitude of thinking at 75 he can be the same father he was at 35 comes as no surprise. And no, there's a lot more to being a father than just loving them.
TBF, though, hearing him describe himself as not bright shows more selfawareness than he ever usually shows.