How old were you when you had your first baby?

[ForeverHopeful3]

I am 33F, yearning, hoping, praying for a husband and family one day. But alas, here I am, as single as a Pringle, after calling it quits like 6ish months ago with my ex.

I am low-key scared that I am going to be too old to have kids or have a really difficult pregnancy because of my age. And I want two kids, at least O.O

I was on dating apps for a while after the breakup, went out on a few decent dates but eventually deleted all my profiles after getting fed up with all the losers on them.... SIGH I guess I will give OLD another try soon. Maybe it will be better now that the the breakup is more of a distant memory.

First at 32, second at 36 and trying for a third now at 39. For context, we live in a high cost of living area where people seem to have kids a bit older and I am the youngest mum in my dd's class at school. You're statistically more likely to have a higher risk pregnancy after 35 but the overall risks are still really low.

Tbh if you're financially secure enough I'd just go it alone. There's no time limit on finding the right partner, there is a time limit on having a baby.

22, I am 29 and have 5 children. DH is in his 40s, and was older than you when we had our first. His sister had her first aged 34, my sisters were 38 and 39 but had owned a company together and were able to sell it and retire before having their first babies. DHs parents were in their 40s, mine in their 20s.

34

17 with my first.
34 (3 weeks away from my 35th birthday) with my second! She is just over 5 weeks old.

45 & 2 months. Bit of a surprise, conceived naturally with then fairly new boyfriend.

DS is now 17 and lovely. 😊

I was 21, had a few losses in between and now I’m 26 having my 2nd (and most likely my last)

My first at 33 and then my second at 42. You definitely have time. I’d just put yourself out there in life in general along with OLD and try not to worry. I think for me, I’d have selected an age to try by myself if I hadn’t met anyone (say, 38).

with OLD, I’d look up the burned haystack method, meant to make it easier to find the right person. The bits I’ve seen can be a bit American (as the originator is American) but I think it could be helpful.

I was 36 and a half. Had DC2 at 38. I’d say you still have time. However, now as a 43 yo mum of a tantruming four year old, I do wish I had been years younger!!

I had just turned 33 a week with my first and 35.5 with my second. Most of my 32/33 year old peers had not started yet. And even now I'm aged 37 a lot still haven't! Fertility differs for everyone but generally you are ok until 40 sometimes even up to 42/43 but ideally you don't want to push it to that

33

I was 18 when I had my first, then 22 and last baby at 30 he’s now 14.

OP this was me to a tee up until I was 33. I was on ALL the dating sites for nearly 4 years. I went on so many first dates, got the ick with pretty much everyone, just didn't quite click. Relentless scrolling, and messaging all to go nowhere.

I also kept getting messages from one guy whose pictures were crap, as in you could barely see him, his responses to the prompt questions were boring, and he seemed like another generic bore. He kept messaging me on all the different apps and so I gave in and went on a date (as I'd exhausted all my options!). I also purposely limited to how much chatting we did beforehand as I was exhausted with OLD and couldn't be arsed to put more effort in.

We now have two beautiful babies ages 6months & 2 and a lovely new house together, very happy.

So, please have faith in yourself, and the future you want. And in the meantime take hold of every opportunity to improve your self-esteem, inner confidence and building yourself up to be who you want to be. The rest will fall into place 😌

I was barely more than a child when I got married.
Fell pregnant with DC1 at 19, 20 when she was born.
Had DC2 16 months later.
Had DC3 at 24.
Divorced a year later.

My children are my joy, and I’d never be without them…..but I wish I’d made a better choice about who their father would be.

Dear ForeverHopeful3 ,
At 40 and having just move into our new home ánd having convinced my partner I was too old for conceiving (in the heat of the moment /;o) - he did not care for children - , we found out 3 months later we were to be mom and dad !
He took it very well and now is a gorgeous dad to an even more fabulous son Felix : in love himself nowadays <3
Though I love them very much I wish my hubby would have gone for it many years earlier though ~

I was 33 when I met my partner and we had our kids when I was 36 and 37. I would get off the dating apps if I were you. Take up a new hobby where you will meet like minded people, join a running club (if you’re not a runner, see if there’s a local running club doing a couch to 5k programme) or a hiking club, get out there and meet like minded men who you are more likely to have something in common with.

21

28 with my first and 38 with my second

I had my first at 18, he’s now 26
2nd at 22, she’s now 22 and finally 3rd at 30 he’s now 14.

19

I was 39, fell pregnant at 38. Met my partner at 36, almost 37.

Don't despair!

26 & 30 for me.

I was 31/32 with my first but had only been with (now) DH for a few months when I got pregnant and I was actually one of the first of my friends/colleagues to have a baby. Mid/late 30s is normal for a first baby in a lot of circles. I had two more at 32 and 41/42.

My husband and I met at 33 (we are both the same age ) . I got pregnant easily, 2 DD at 34 & 39 and a MMC at 38 that they said was just bad luck nothing to do with age.

21, 25, 33

I was 36 when I had my first. My good friend had her first at 43.