Average age of first-time mothers is now 30 - how old were you?

[KateMumsnet]

Hello all

Research published yesterday shows that the average British woman is now having her first child at the age of 30 - and we wondered whether this matches MNers' own experiences. So do share your thoughts - are you bang on average, or under, or over? Does it matter - and would you make the same decision again, given the chance?

23 with DS1, as it turns out if we'd have waited until 30 to start a family, I wouldn't have been able to have any at all so Im pleased I was on the younger side of things

I was 26 my sister 24, both uni graduates!

28 and 30

19. Youngest amongst my friends (many are still childless in their late 30s/40s). Ironically all the support given made it much easier for me than the ones who did it later, and I had supportive young parents so was still able to party/travel/study in my 20s.

29. No regrets.

22 then 25 and 36.

In all honesty, if I had the chance to go back and do it all again I probably would have waited a few more years to have the first two. I would still have wanted the exact same children though, of course .

20. I do think I'd have found it a bit easier if I was older but I wouldn't change it.

I got pregnant for the first time at 29, gave birth at 30, which seemed pretty normal amongst my friends - and that was 16 years ago.

My mother had her first at 29 back in the 1960s, when that was seen as distinctly elderly. And even my grandmothers were in their late 20s when they had their first children, but then they both went to university, which was unusual for the time.

23, I hope I will have another before I am 30. better get cracking

36, no regrets but would have definitely started sooner but hadn't met my DH! Most of my friends were 34-37 having first babies.... And I have one friend who finally had her first at 47 after years of IVF

I had my first at 25 and second at 28. No regrets at all

29. I wish I'd waited a year or 2 and travelled a bit first.

28

With hindsight I might have left it a bit later, but I'd been told as a teenager by my shit gp that my fertility might be low due to irregular periods so I worried about leaving it too late.

A month before turning 36

I wanted a baby at 27 , a year after I got married. After almost 10 years of trying I finally became a mum to my first baby through adoption at 36 years old.

I remember being pregnant (sadly miscarried) when I was 33 and being told I would be a geriatric mum by a work colleague.33 is no age!

22

No regrets

I started full time work at 16 (apprenticeship) and had worked my way up through several jobs and promotions so don't feel like I missed out on a career at all. Hoping to retrain once DC are older and have another career, but not sure what in yet!

26, having been married at 23.

It works for us, although it is weird being the youngest parents at school. It won't be so bad when p3b starts, as the parents of his classmates are more likely to be closer to our ages then. But it does make for awkward conversations and we are financially disadvantaged compared with families where both parents worked for ten or more years before TTC.

29 then 31 for my second. I'm glad I didn't leave it any later as I can't imagine dealing with the teen years in my fifties. I'm knackered as it is in my forties!

But I think whatever your age, you make it work for you whether you're a teen mum or having your first in your forties, you just get on with it.

I was 30 - very nearly 31

That was 32 years ago though & I think the average was quite a bit lower then

32, I had developed my career, traveled with and without my DH and settled into a lovely community near my parents. Just right for me, though still felt like a big leap into change even at 32.

31 and I wish I'd been able to start earlier, but wasn't married/settled before then.
If i'd started younger, I'd probably have had more - I have 3 but youngest was born when I was 36 and I felt knackered enough after that not to go for another one.

35 although I was one of the first among my friends.

31

Maybe wish I had been able to start a little earlier but I do recognise that starting when I did, I was secure, with the right man, married, and had had a good career (which I subsequently abandoned so glad I at least had it once).

29, a month off my 30th.