Young / average / old motherhood

[Lacatrina]

What would you consider is young to have a child, average to have a child and old to have a child.

Genuinely just interested. I would say 31 and under is quite young. 32-38 very average. 39+ starting to get into older category. But I'm SW London so aware these figures are totally unrepresentative of the whole picture

Under 20 - too young.

20-25 - young.

26-37 - average.

38-43 - a bit older.

44+ - Too old.

(JMO.)

In Ireland the average age of first time mothers is 31.5 at the last census. Bit older than UK I think.

Pretty sure the poster meant very old to have a baby, not very old in life.

I don’t personally think 40+ is very old to have a baby but it is older

You seem to have an extremely narrow frame of reference. I live relatively close to you but there is no world in which 31 is young to have a baby.

I’d say 25-35 is average.

Young is under 25, normal under 34 , older 35 plus .

I've seen "elderly primigravida," "advanced maternal age" and "geriatric pregnancy" in those 35 and above more times than I care to count professionally and never wanted to fit into those terms!

I had my eldest at 24 (people are amazed I have a 20 year old ) and youngest at 36.
I’m definitely one of the oldest mothers out of her peers

I had my eldest at 24 (people are amazed I have a 20 year old ) and youngest at 36.
I’m definitely one of the oldest mothers out of her peers

As you can see from here, it’s so subjective, so it doesn’t really matter. Have a baby when you want to have one. Every age has its drawbacks and benefits. I don’t think people are better parents if they ‘prioritise’ and have a baby 20/30 or leave it until their 40s. People’s love for their child isn’t age dependant. Have a baby when you want and there’s no need to be rude or judgemental about when other women have babies - it doesn’t affect your life in any way!!

That's true. I had two first class degrees and a post grad qualification and I was intelligent and educated enough to know that it was better biologically not to wait too long to have children, so I had mine at 29 and 31. I guess that's what you meant?

20s is young, 30s average and 40s older

Under 30 - incredibly young, almost unheard of.

30-40 - normal

40+ old

Young - under 25
Average - 25-34
Old - 35+

I had my children at 19, 21 and 22 and am now pregnant again and will have my 4th at 27. I definitely feel like I'm more 'average' this time. With my others it was very unusual to meet other mums my age at baby groups etc.

In my family everyone has children earlier, so I was always 'average'. My nan was 21, 24 and 27. My mum was 20, 26, 29 and 31. DH's family is the same, SILs both had their first children at 22.

Unheard of don't get out much do ya

I think the poster is referring to the vast body of peer reviewed research on the subject. In order for research to be meaningful it needs to be conducted across a large sample size, not just one person.

It’s not round here, no one that age could afford them.

But i assume you mean London which is just one small part of the UK there is a whole world beyond that

I was 36 when I had my second DC and one midwife seemed to take pleasure in calling it a geriatric pregnancy. It probably was a bit on the old side for the area where I lived. Under 23 would be young, possibly after 35 considered old.

Biologically , pregnancy wise it is old. I won't doctor facts.

19 is an old teen.
8 would be old to loose your first tooth.
11 would be old to learn to ride a bike for the first time.
45 would be old to have your first grey hair.
My own mother was old to only start her periods at 15.

And for the grand finale: 39 is old to be getting pregnant for the first time .

You would think someone with two first class degrees and a post graduate qualification would understand that.

My London hospital told me that they only considered 40+ to be an older mother now, I was just 38 when I have birth and they said that was pretty normal these days. But I appreciate it varies from place to place.

I’m in London. I guess a lot of women these days are starting families at 30+, which is fine…but 30 isn’t a ‘young Mum’.

I’d say from mid twenties-mid thirties is an average age. 37-ish upwards is older. 23-ish or younger is ‘young’.

I was 27 & 31 when my children were born. I didn’t feel young or old.

I think it’s more the wording of “very old,” presumably designed to get a reaction. The reason it comes over like this is that you referred to the 16+ bracket as “young,” in comparison, not “very young.”

I’m fully aware of the fact that this pushes all my buttons though so I’m over sensitive to it, as lots of women don’t get a say in when they become mothers, including myself. It’s nice to think that we can plan it for a certain ideal age but had I started TTC at 18, 25 or (as I did) 32, I’d have still needed the IVF I’m undergoing at 35.

Its just a turn of phrase clearly I am a grown women 🙃