To be surprised at someone being pregnant at 44

[Onempretime7788]

I would have thought post 35 was rare

I had my third when I was 40 (he was a surprise baby) and I do know a mum who had her a baby at 43. I don't know any other mum's who have had babies after 40 though.
Although I have heard it's more common for women to wait until their mid to late 30s before having a baby.
Not sure it matters to anyone else what age you have a baby at.

Where ya been? 🤔

My grandma had her last (of 12) at 45. 🤷‍♀️

Everyone: please be careful what info you post. I'm a bit suspect of the motivation of the thread... it's 2026 after all.

No post 35 is not rare

In fact more mothers give birth between 35-40 than 25-30 (photos will appear eventually)

OP, it may interest you to know:

Over 1 in 4 (26.7%) of all births in England are now to mothers aged 35 and over, with a notable increase in mothers aged 40+.

So you think those people are lying?

It's comparatively a little more normal in recent times, due to falling rates in other age ranges and small increase in older ranges.

Fertility past 42 is massively compromised though, and becomes compromised by the time 40s are hit at all. Defect and miscarriage rates are substantially higher into the 40s.

It obviously does happen still though.

I knew of someone who naturally conceived her first at 46 I think?

What's funny is that while PCOS can affect ovulation and periods, because eggs aren't released monthly, women with PCOS often have a higher egg reserve and so can sometimes have an easier time of conceiving in their late 30s as they have more viable eggs.

It's weird. Bodies in general are strange and there are many exceptions.

And no, fertility is not significantly compromised after 35. It decreases a bit yes, but it doesn't fall off a cliff and the odds of miscarriage or birth defects are exaggerated. More and more research is showing just how wrong the 35=low fertility myth really is. After 40? Yes, there's a major decrease but still, it's an individual thing.

These sorts of threads are... strange.
For one thing assisted fertility has been a thing for a good while now and second it wasn't unheard of women to have babies post 45 before contraception was widely used (and yes we know sometimes women were pretending to be pregnant to cover for a teen daughter before anyone pipes up).
Factor in the age of menopause age creeping up in the West and decades of the welfare state and good nutrition and healthcare including dental care and it's really not surprising at all that some women are able to have pregancies well into their 40s.
I'm not saying from a position of personal cope either, I had my two in my thirties.

I think that's unusual OP. But then when I had my youngest I was the oldest mum on the maternity ward at 32. There were two ladies in their late 20's having their 3rd babies with new partners after a big age gap and the rest were teenagers.

I found out today that frank skinner has a 13 year old son. I know it's different with men but he is the same age as my FIL who has dc in their mid 40's and grandchildren aged between 10 and 19

Uh… no?

I mean, statistically the vast majority of us won’t live to 100. I don’t assume anyone who says their granny did is lying.

But you’re going to mention your granny living to 100 because it’s interesting and uplifting.

Your granny not living to 100 isn’t a story at all - plus it’s bit of a downer.

Everyone knows someone who conceived with no trouble over 40. But everyone also knows hundreds of people who didn’t - it’s just not an interesting story, or a story anyone’s told them, because it’s private and sad and nobody wants to hear it.

I had my last baby at 43. We did use ivf, which increased our odds by adding more of my eggs per cycle. But not impossible and I know a few other women who’ve had babies in their 40s.

A bit like your decision to comment on this post.

I'm not picking at your posts but those things have got nothing to do with egg quality or even your partners sperm quality. Completely understand why you want to enjoy your new body after an amazing weight loss but that poster isn't really wrong. Fertility has got fuck all to do with how healthy you are.

The OP won't be back because:

1. they've shown themselves to be egregiously thick by not even bothering to Google age and births
2. this is a goady thread to have pop at older mothers.

Post-35 is almost the norm!

However, getting pregnant at 44 is somewhat unusual. Most can't, which is why the cut-off for IVF with own eggs is 43. But there is the occasional one at 44. It's not uheard-of.

I got pregnant at 44, had been trying for 6 years after ds was born & nothing, separated from my husband & was pregnant with my new partner within 8 weeks as I had stopped using contraception due to thinking I was infertile, sadly I lost my little girl at 16 weeks.

She's right though. Lots of people do happily and easily have babies 35+ but many don't and only find this out after they start trying.

Egg quality, ovarian reserve and sperm quality will all be unknowns and egg quality is in an unfairly steep decline past 35.

Lots of ladies on the Infertility pages are younger than 35, in incredible health and ovulate regularly but still find themselves there.

Successful IVF at age 43 is pretty unlikely, transfer success rates at this age are around 9% per transfer

With respect you don't know that.

I had my dc at 33, and that was late enough for me. Ideally I'd have had children in my 20s when I had more energy. We haven't had a second because we're just too tired. I really admire women that have the enegy to have them later, but I also think we've demonised young mothers and younger parenthood. We tell girls they'll never make something of themselves if they get pregnant, when really we should be supporting them to have children and still succeed.

Most mums round me had their first after the age of 35. Very few younger than that.

I agree with this. I live in London and a lot of my friends started trying for a baby in their late 30s. They took a long time to get pregnant and a lot had IVF. Not everyone had a baby even after years of trying. There is a reason the tube has adverts for fertility clinics in every train.

Shudder…44 to start all that lark - sheesh !!
I’m 50 and currently road tripping on Jamaica with my DH
I leave at home my 27 year old daughter , married mother of 3
A 24 year old son about to move in with his girlfriend and their baby
Twin boys of 21 both well established in their trades and one about to go off travelling

Christ on a bike, if someone had said to me I had to have a baby at 44- not for a billion quid or a gun to the head !

She will be nearly my age when the kid starts school man !

No judgement here mind- maybe having a few quid/secure housing/ career sorted before hand is the way to go bit I just can’t get past running around after a 5 year old at 50 that isn’t your grandchild ( which I do lol, but it’s a different kettle of fish )