How Old Is Too Old?
By Maria D. James, 09.20.06

It was God who told the creatures of the earth to be fruitful and multiply, but today’s women may not have to tackle that until later in life.

These days women are deciding either by choice or by lack of a mate to put starting a family on the back burner. So what happens when these women reach their mid-30, 40s + older and decide try children? Sitcoms and movies often play off the clichéd “biological clock,” but this dreaded mental clock seems to be forever counting down to the end of a woman’s child birthing years.

This clock, which often ticks as early as 25, gives women a good reason for women to be concerned. Research shows women who reach their 30s experience a decline in fertility due to a decrease in the number and health of the eggs. Although bearing children at 35 and older is possible, risks include birth defects in the baby and chronic health problems for mom such as high blood pressure, diabetes, still birth and cesarean section.

Research by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists shows that complications for this age group are in fact higher than that for younger women.

With this research, I often wonder if our grandparents and cultures outside the U.S. have the right idea by marrying young. My grandparents married when they were young and eventually had 10 children. Youth and pregnancy seem to go hand in hand. In many cultures, young women are expected to produce children at a young age. These young women are groomed since birth to take the reigns of motherhood while they are young.

And in the U.S. teen pregnancy has become a crisis due to the fact teens are often financially, physically and mentally unprepared.

Despite research, women in their 20’s and early 30’s are most fertile, women 35 and older shouldn’t worry.

Today women have wonderful opportunities to live out their lives their way; this includes when to start a family. There isn’t any set deadline to when a woman should have a baby, but the question goes from can it happen, to will it be safe for both mom and baby. The key to later in life pregnancies is to first plan ahead and second get started as soon as it’s acceptable in your life.