Upper age bracket you would consider final baby

[Lacatrina]

I had my first at just turned 33 and my second at 35.(Which for my area is surprisingly on the younger side).
I know it's super personal and situation-dependent but I'd like to know based on these ages, what's the oldest you would leave it to potentially try for a 3rd?
Also interested to know what you think the average age for people to be having kids (especially in London/Greater London) is.

Already have 2 pregnant with 3ed. Husband is getting the snip soon after (this has always been the plan). I will have my childbearing done before 30. As long as I was healthy enough to carry the child though I think I would be open to having one till I couldn’t providing I could get good medical care. It’s really hard to say for sure though because it’s something I always planned to do early (not this early for our third but hay at least it’s not twins).

I had my first at 34 (lost my first pregnancy at 33 in second trimester). Now almost 36.

Still on the fence about a second, but I wouldn't want to be older than 39. I'm a bit scarred from the first loss and the risks just increase.

Mid to late thirties. I had my second at 37 and another at almost 42.
Honestly, much as I love them I wouldn’t recommend leaving it until 40s.
I’m constantly exhausted and currently menopausal with a teenager.

My limit was 39.

I had my first at 20, second followed 16 months later and then my third was born just before my 25th birthday.
We lost twins last year (just before I turned 30), and that’s us done now.
I feel like the 10 year age gap between my eldest and a hypothetical 4th baby is too big.
So I guess 30 is my cut off age 🤷🏻‍♀️

Considering whether to go for a 4th…I’m 43😅

Honestly, I think this depends totally on the individual and their body.

I had a totally straightforward pregnancy at 33, then a missed miscarriage at 35 and another miscarriage at 36. Now pregnant again and if everything goes smoothly (now 20 weeks) I will be almost 37 when the baby is born.

Before my experience with TTC my second, I would have said my limit was around 40. But actually, while this might be possible for many women, I don't think my body will still be able to carry a baby at that age.

It's all very well to have a hypothetical limit and for other people to comment that everything went fine for them at that age - but that is also luck. You might find that nature has already set a lower limit for you and there is nothing you can do about it.

Hard to say surely, biologically? I started periods at 10 for example so my quality of eggs deteriorates and likelihood of menopause increases sooner than someone who started their periods at 15. For me 35 was old enough. I had an easy first pregnancy at 29 but at 33 I had 4 miscarriages before my second child was born so didn’t want to try again later. Even though I often thought about it

46ish.

I'm 37 and pregnant with my last baby though, so this is theoretical.

46 probably if I had no children up till that point.

35 for me, my mum had me at 38 and throughout my childhood I was painfully aware that she was at least 10 years older than everyone else’s mum (and in one case the same age as their nan!). I know times are very different now and I live in a much more MC area than I grew up in but 35 remained my cut off and I don’t regret it

Had my first at 30, second at 33. I'm done (I'm 45) but I think I would have been open for a third before turning 40.

35 for me

I started at 16 and won't be having any more after 27.
In your situation I'd say 42, my mother met my father in her late 30s and had her last child at 41

I believe late twenties is the average age to have a child in this country

30 was my limit for many reasons. Fortunately I was done by 28 as at 35 I started to have gynaecological issues and had huge, multiple fibroids that I had to wait years for proper treatment.

I have many friends though who are 40+ with babies and toddlers.

I had a similar experience, my limit was a miscarriage one, too. My children were born when I was 36 and 38. Whilst I want(wanted) more children, I don't feel my heart and soul and mental health would cope with any more losses, and it's not fair on my family to see me go through that again, I was an absolute mess. I'm so blessed with 2 beautiful children. They adore each other as well.

35

40 because much beyond that and even around it..

1. your children are likely to have to deal with your illness, death or disability at a younger age. I say this from experience.

2. the risk of developmental conditions sky rocket which is not only hard for the kid but life changing for the whole of the rest of the family.

appreciate this isn’t everyone’s experience but it’s my view.

Think about how old you personally want to be dealing with a teen, paying for university? I have 2 dc and was happy to have them both graduated before I turned 50, means now the house is paid off I can plan to retire by 55

I was done by 30. But if it hadn’t worked out for me, I think late 30s would have been my cut off. I’m 41 now and couldn’t think of much worse than being pregnant again tbh but I know I was very lucky to conceive straightforwardly when I did and now have two dcs aged 11 and 14, they are at a great stage and I’m glad the baby years are well behind me.

30 is the oldest I would consider having a baby.

For me specifically it’s just unfair after that.

I had mine at 30 & 36. Would definitely have kept going to 40 at least, but glad now that it wasn’t necessary.

35

It’s so subjective. I had my 2 DC in my twenties. I wanted to be ‘done’ by 27/28 so that we would have 2 at school and out of the nappies/baby/toddler stage when we were still in our early 30s. It has worked well for us but I appreciate it’s not for everybody.

Personally I see no issue with pregnancy in your 40s. Lots of women can naturally get pregnant. I only see a problem when you get people 50/60s plus trying to force it with Doner eggs and medical procedures.

We never had any more after 28, both of us have brilliant careers and decided we didn’t want to be older parents. Everyone is different but there’s no way I wanted to have children much later, I’d rather have been childless. My mother was 39 when she had me and I was always aware she was much older than other parents, I never wanted that for my children.

35 was my absolute limit for the birth of a last baby.