Would you have a baby at 50?

[pumpkinpatch6]

Off the back of the "Do you regret having a baby at 40" thread, would you have a child at 50 assuming you can provide for it emotionally and financially? Obviously medical assistance would be needed.

Well that's a load of ageist rubbish. I know some lovely dads whose kids were born when they were 48, 52 and 55. They have far more patience and fun with their kids than some younger dads who are more focussed on their own selfish interests.

I think women tend to be good mums at any age because hormones and instincts. Men are often better fathers when they're older and have got some of their impulses out of the way, testosterone levels drop a bit etc.

Grim? Fertility problems...go away angry women.

I am not angry.

I agree.

Some people are saying that, their opinion I suppose. Harsh in some cases, reasonable for others.

But forget that- there's no point downplaying the impact of a parent dying early. Anyone who does this: you're proving the point about being 'selfish', because to not even acknowledge it is slightly mad.

Nobody would say a 19 year old could be financially stable. No, that's pretty unlikely and silly. You can acknowledge this and still support a 19 year old mum/dad.

Hell no. I'm 41 with a 5 year old with complex needs and an ekder child who is acting like a teenager already. It's hard work, especially with a FT job and an almost bankrupt council with no SEND resources.

Ask Sue Radford though......I bet she would.

No. Not for me. That said, if you have a baby at 48 well, you have a baby at 48. Who am I to tell anyone what's wrong or what's right? But personally? No. I wouldn't. I couldn't. I had my youngest at 42. But I've been raising children since I was in my 20s and I'm tired. I'm 51 and I'm really tired, really busy, and to be honest, I just couldn't with the night feedings and all the rest. Trying not to drop the baby while falling asleep during the 10th night feed? Hell to the NO! Prams on buses? Leaking nipples? Varicose veins on top of my varicose veins? Nope. I am so done with all that. If you Google my ovaries, it says Permanently Closed in red.

😂

If I got pregnant at 50, yes I'd have a baby. I wouldn't actively plan a baby at that age, but if it happened I wouldn't have any other options.

There'd be a 29 year age gap between my oldest and youngest tho if I did, which would be mental!!

Medical intervention not strictly necessary at all. An ex colleague had a 32 year age gap with her oldest sibling...her mum had him at 18 (other kids in between) and her at 50. And this was back in the day, before medical intervention was a thing.

No way, but I do know someone who had her last child at 49 (not ivf) and had a 25 year old son and other children in between.

Not for me but don’t judge anyone else if that’s their choice. I had children in my 20’s and found pregnancy pretty easy and then one in my middle 30’s (yes got told I was old at 35 by the midwife!) and the pregnancy was harder. Now I’m 50, although I look after myself and go to the gym 3-4 times a week there is no getting away from the fact that I get much more tired, and if you get ill, it takes you much longer to get over it (even just a cold). There’s odd aches and pains popped up in your joints. I don’t think I could physically do pregnancy and then maintain enthusiasm for another childhood and primary school drop offs!
I lost my Mum in my 20’s (she was in her 50’s when she died) and it is a very, very hard thing to go through at that age as you just don’t really have the maturity/ life experience you need to handle it and look after yourself. It is life changing.

Well if everyone in the world only had kids in what society considers perfect conditions:

• 2 in love parents who will never divorce
• enough money so the kids don’t want for anything
• No hereditary diseases
• whatever else

…the human race would probably die out.

As long as you can provide love and stability - who’s anyone else to judge?

Hell no!
Wouldn't even have considered it in my 40's tbh.

No. A baby at 50 is one thing. A student age child at 70 is quite another! I have a friend who was a late baby, an only child and bereaved at 19 and 22. Left very wealthy and we know anything can happen at any time, but orphaned at 22 because your parents had you at 50 is dreadful.

I had a baby and at 19 we were perfectly financially stable. Bought a house two years later. They're now in their 20s and have wanted for nothing. In fact, got a lot more experiences than many of their peers.

The unfortunate fact is that life is unpredictable. I know someone whose mother had them at 51, quite naturally. They were in their late 40s before her mother died.

I know other families where the parents started having children at 30, who lost a parent aged 4 and 8. Yet another who were 30s and lost their mother when the youngest was 12. And another who started having babies early 20s and lost their father when the oldest was a teen. Another who was late 20s and left behind a 9 and 13 year old.

I think we just have to accept that, when we have a child, they will experience loss. Hopefully that doesn't come till later in life. All too often, it comes younger, even when the parents were young. I've seen enough of life now to understand that the best laid and thought of plans often count for nothing.

Life can be a b and I'm glad I was able to get to my mid-40s before I worked that out.

Your friends don’t sound normal for 50. Kids are tiring but not THAT tiring.

Well quite.

Little kids in your late 40s / 50 isn’t optimal, but if you have the time and the will and the cash, you’re unlikely to do a bad job, certainly better than much of the piss poor parenting that is regularly found all over.

Also our birthrate is too low

Most 70 year olds drive fine, far as I know..

No. I had 3rd dc at 37 and felt ' old' then. Struggled so much more with everything than the others i had when I was 21 and 33.

Absolutely no way.

I’ve just had my last child at 35, that was my cut off. I wouldn’t even at 40.

My parents and in laws all started having more serious health problems in their 50s eg cancer, and they wouldn’t have been able to look after a child. I as an adult had to take time off work to look after my mum after her surgery. Health risks do increase after 50.

HOW? 3 of them? wtf?

This is me. It's all lovely when they are babies. Some people dont consider the fact that they turn into teenagers very quickly!!!

No. When the baby is in its early 20s their parents would be in their 70s, how would the baby be free to live its life as they wanted when realistically their parents might only be around for a couple more years? None of my grandparents lived past 72 (which is only 6 years younger than the national average), all were fit and healthy, maternal granddad was doing 10ks, and all died due to short illnesses.

Not a coincidence. Friends who decided to have babies at the same time, same clinic, all got pregnant within a year of each other.

All very off so lots of help.