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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not be worried about pregnancy at 38

98 replies

Pregnancy1017 · 26/12/2025 18:44

Being as I’m we’ll pass age of normal age of conception

OP posts:
Orangetoecat · 26/12/2025 20:40

GeishaTrumpet · 26/12/2025 19:20

I had a “surprise” pregnancy at 38, she’s now almost three and a little treasure 💕

Snap! My "surprise" (at the ripe old age of 38) turned 3 recently and she was born a few weeks before my 39th 😂

AngryBird6122 · 26/12/2025 20:59

I think you are too old. Others will think it's fine. It's your opinion that matters

RitaFires · 26/12/2025 21:09

Everyone's fertility is their own but my surprise sibling arrived when my mum was 44 so I wouldn't consider you out of the woods yet.

boothandbones · 26/12/2025 21:16

Cheese55 · 26/12/2025 20:28

She's not close to the menopause at 38!

Really? Im 41 and expecting to be in peri soon

Cheese55 · 26/12/2025 21:23

boothandbones · 26/12/2025 21:16

Really? Im 41 and expecting to be in peri soon

I had my 2nd baby at 42 so maybe I'm biased! My menopause started at 52 so again biased

Wendy83 · 26/12/2025 21:34

Happywalnut · 26/12/2025 20:13

I think I read you can stop contraception at 55 as you aren’t then considered able to conceive (if you haven’t had your year of no periods by then)

Anyone confirm I’m not talking rubbish?

Yes that is correct

SparkyBlue · 26/12/2025 21:38

This post can’t be genuine

Beyondbeliefsometimes · 26/12/2025 21:40

Ha good luck and assume nothing. Took 2 years for me to conceive at 30, was on IVF pathway. I got a UTI and 3 sets of antibiotics and in my wisdom at the age of 41 didn't think how they would affect the pill and now 22 weeks pregnant. Was certain I was also hitting menopause. My maternal line all were through menopause by 43

mondaytosunday · 26/12/2025 21:43

You are well past the age of conception when you have gone through menopause. Have you? No? Then as someone who had kids at 41 and 43, with several friends all conceiving naturally at 40 plus (one at 45, another at 46), you may be in for a big surprise.
As for MN, a quick search will turn up dozens of threads about pregnancy post 40, with only a few saying they’d feel too old to have a child then. Most would be overwhelmingly positive.

OctopusFriend · 26/12/2025 21:45

Pregnancy1017 · 26/12/2025 19:51

I am I’m pretty sure if I posted I was going to get pregnant at 38 on here,I would be told I’m too old.

You would not.

Ilovecakey · 26/12/2025 21:46

Cheese55 · 26/12/2025 21:23

I had my 2nd baby at 42 so maybe I'm biased! My menopause started at 52 so again biased

Can I ask what are the signs it has started? And also do you mind me asking what age your periods started as im wondering if a later menopause is caused by if you started your periods later?

WheresBillGrundyNow · 26/12/2025 21:48

I know what a lot of people would say if I told them this, but I don’t think I really need contraception either. I’m forty. Embarrassing to admit but I only found out afterwards that I had been taking the pill all wrong from the age of sixteen to thirty. I would take them randomly, not follow the arrow, forgot to take them, take double (I’ve got mh problems/adhd).
So I wasn’t properly protected at all. I’ve had the same partner since my teens, very regular, frequent love life and not once did I get pregnant. When I actually wanted to get pregnant at 31 I stopped the pill, lost a lot of weight, stopped smoking and it took 6months of concerted effort to conceive.
Everything went fine. I bf for 2 years and my cycle never went back to normal. I re gained the weight I lost. I started to get very noticeable peri symptoms starting at 36. Tests confirmed it.
We tried for about a year for number 2 around that time but no luck whatsoever.
I haven’t been much bothered with contraception since. I feel like I know my body and the chances for me personally of getting pregnant now are very very low.

CurlewKate · 26/12/2025 21:49

I had two children after 38. Contraception is very, very important.

Scottishskifun · 26/12/2025 21:52

Ermmmmmm what planet are you on OP?
Unless you had medical early menopause or a hysterectomy then your being worse then a naive 16 year old saying they can't get pregnant the first time they have sex!

Many of my friends had 2nd/3rd child age 39-44!

Bella1905 · 26/12/2025 21:53

I just had my third baby at 41. It was by far the easiest pregnancy and birth of my three. 38 is nothing these days.

Cheese55 · 26/12/2025 21:59

Ilovecakey · 26/12/2025 21:46

Can I ask what are the signs it has started? And also do you mind me asking what age your periods started as im wondering if a later menopause is caused by if you started your periods later?

I started around 13 ish. I had periods as normal, then at 52 I never had another one so no signs.

mindutopia · 26/12/2025 22:00

I got pregnant twice at 37 easily. One of those ended in miscarriage (hence the next one soon after), but I got pregnant first cycle trying both times.

I’m 45, with a period only about every quarter (roughly 4 a year) and I still take my birth control religiously every day.

Eyeshadow · 26/12/2025 22:16

Edit: completely missed the ‘not’ in your post 🙈

yes you can still get pregnant at 38 - easily.

Are you hoping to get pregnant??

MudandMoet · 26/12/2025 22:16

I think it’s very foolish to think like that OP. I had my little darling a few months before I turned 45. Healthy/easy pregnancy and birth and she’s the light of our lives. Periods returned like clockwork soon after and no signs of peri menopause here yet.

Zov · 26/12/2025 22:21

Pregnancy1017 · 26/12/2025 19:51

I am I’m pretty sure if I posted I was going to get pregnant at 38 on here,I would be told I’m too old.

You wouldn't. Not at 38.

42-43 or older then yes, that is too old to have a baby (IMO) and many other people will agree.

But 38 isn't too old to have a baby.

It's not young though. Nor is it 'average.' It is older than average to have a baby.

But it's not too old.

Zov · 26/12/2025 22:21

Pregnancy1017 · 26/12/2025 19:51

I am I’m pretty sure if I posted I was going to get pregnant at 38 on here,I would be told I’m too old.

You wouldn't. Not at 38.

42-43 or older then yes, that is too old to have a baby (IMO) and many other people will agree.

But 38 isn't too old to have a baby.

It's not young though. Nor is it 'average.' It is older than average to have a baby.

But it's not too old.

Badslipperluck · 26/12/2025 22:23

It's ok if you're ok with being 'forced' into compression stockings and blood thinner injections

gamerchick · 26/12/2025 22:27

Pregnancy1017 · 26/12/2025 19:51

I am I’m pretty sure if I posted I was going to get pregnant at 38 on here,I would be told I’m too old.

Doesn't mean you can't get pregnant though. Biology says what's what.

Criceta · 26/12/2025 22:27

Some of the posts on this thread are ridiculous. I had two textbook pregnancies at 40 and 42. 38 is nothing.

SarahAndQuack · 26/12/2025 22:52

I think you are confusing two different things.

You remain fertile until menopause is finished, which could easily be 50+.

But, as you get older, the likelihood you are producing abnormal eggs increases. If these eggs are fertilised, they are less likely to implant, more likely to result in a miscarriage (and also more likely to result in chromosomal conditions such as Down's Syndrome).

Lots of people are still fertile and able to have a healthy baby at 38. Some are not. And many people will find it takes longer, and involves more miscarriages, to get there.

Once you are into your 40s, it is very likely you will keep on ovulating, but if the eggs are fertilised, many of them won't implant (and you won't know they ever fertilised), or you will miscarry - early on, you may not even know this has happened.

The reason it's worth being nervous about pregnancies into your late 30s/40s isn't that you couldn't conceive. It's that you are so much more likely to experience a miscarriage.

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