When is it too late?

[MS.REVLON]

When is it too late for a women to have a child?

Being a single women with no children in her early thirties when do you think your clock is running faster?



I feel 35 is a good age to have had all the children you need.

[kiml122]

That's a good question. My close friends and I discuss this all the time. We are all in our early to mid 30's and only one person has a child, and she and her husband just had him in July. She's 36, and she is talking of having maybe one more when she's 38. I think 35 is a good age to have had your children as well, I say this because there are to many health risk once you are over the age of 35.

Another friend wanted to get her career in order, now that she has done that she is looking at getting married and having some children. She wants to have any child or children that she is going to have before 40. I think the older you are and wait to have your first child, you get to a point where you feel to old to run with the child.

I have a male friend who is 45 and his wife is 32. They have a 4 year old daughter and his wife wants to have other children, but he is like he is way to old to be having any more children. The one he has wearing his azz out

What thoughts do the rest of you have?

[FuturePhD]

I think that as long as you want kids and are able to have them, you should. My grandmother had her last child (her 12th) when she was well into her 40's.

[lovele1978]

My grandmother didn't start having her children until she was 35. My mother who is the youngest of 7 wasn't born until she was 42!! I think it depends on the state of health that you are in. Personally I hope to be done by the time that I am 34 if not sooner!!

[Special1920]

My aunt had my cousin at 44. She's now 67, and looks 40ish, healthy, lived to see her son go to medical school. As long as you are healthy, it's your decision. Why put an age on it? I'm 36 and having one, I cursed my girlfriend out when she said I was too old. Sorry if I wasn't a fast a$$ dropping them at 16, 17, 18. Sorry if my degree was important to me in my early 20's. Sorry if having my career came next. Sorry if I didn't want to be a single mom, and waited for a good man. Needless to say she hasn't called since.

[Finer Woman10-A-91]

Oooh I see 33 creeping up...and there is NO baby in the oven! And there will be NO Baby until I have that pretty platinum band with a brilliantly...sparkly...diamond solitaire nicely settled on my finger

Originally posted by Special1920
My aunt had my cousin at 44. She's now 67, and looks 40ish, healthy, lived to see her son go to medical school. As long as you are healthy, it's your decision. Why put an age on it? I'm 36 and having one, I cursed my girlfriend out when she said I was too old. Sorry if I wasn't a fast a$$ dropping them at 16, 17, 18. Sorry if my degree was important to me in my early 20's. Sorry if having my career came next. Sorry if I didn't want to be a single mom, and waited for a good man. Needless to say she hasn't called since.

[DreamfulOne]

Well personally I want to have all of my children (4) between the ages of 26 and 36. But I would have to agree, everything must be in line first before I think about bringing a child into this world...i must be married, i must have my degree(s), i must have my own house, financially stable, etc.,

[Steeltrap]

I'm going to say mid-40s. I had physical problems and my physician at the time said I need to do it by age 40.
But single motherhood is not an option for me. I don't make enough money (I live in criminally expensive Southern California, where you can't get anything decent under $200K)
More importantly, I was raised in a two-parent household (if my dad was still alive, my parents would be celebrating their 53rd anniversary in December).
My mom was almost 37 when she had me.

[ClassyLady]

I think that as long as you are able and healthy enough to take care of a child then you are young enough to have one. I would rather wait until I am forty and have a child that I will be able to support financially, physically, and emotionally than to have one now when I know I am neither ready nor able to give that child what they need.

I was talking to the sweetest old lady in the nail salon the other day. She had three daughters and they were all seven years apart. She had the first at 35, the second at 42, and the baby at 49. When I asked her why, she said "Oh, I couldn't have more than one little child at a time or I would've killed one of them." I really admire her. She had children when it would be best for the both of them and that's really what matters, not age.

[Special1920]

I guess I'm a little touchy about the subject, seeing I'm in my mid 30's, and knowing that it is people out there that think I'm too old to be having my first child. Although it appears to be common practice these days to have children at 15, 16, 17...IMHO it's nothing cute about it. I would say it's about 35% of our girls in my high school that have children. The amount of days they miss from school is usually miore days then they come. We are lucky to even keep them long enough for them to graduate. I feel to each her own, but I'll rather see a woman in her 30's or even 40's having their first, then to see children in their early or late teens having their first.

[tickledpink]

My mother had me when she was 39. I don't think there is anything wrong with having children in your mid to late 30's.

[kizzie22]

When is it too late

I say around 35-40 yrs of age is a good time to start having children. I just turned 30 last month... So my clock has started ticking loudly. I have goals that I need to accomplish in my career and then motherhood is the next step.

[AKAtude]

I've been pondering this question for a few days now. Personally, I think it depends on the individual(s) invovled. I wouldn't want to have children past my 30's, but that's just me. As long as the mother is healthy and seeks prenatal care to ensure she and baby are doing ok, then to each her own.

I also want to add food for thought. Being married, financially stable, etc. are wonderful things to want and have before giving birth. However, there are no guarantees that things will "work" when we want them to.

I hate to say my sister and brother-in-law made a "mistake", but they waited for that "just right time" to begin a family, and it never worked out for them. She had three miscarriages (I think it was three) , and tried some other methods. They finally adopted their first and only child three years ago, and they are in their early 40's. Now that I'm married, she keeps telling me not to wait around too long "just in case" because the older we get, the more difficult it can be.

[HopefulProspective]

I had to really think about this question before I responded.

Well, I guess to each his own. If you wanna wait later in life to have children, then more power to you!

I have two children. One I had when I was 22 and the other at 28. I was married when I had both of my children, even though we did not have the house when my first son was born, he was well taken care of and he won't remember living in the apartment anyway. Well, when the second one rolled around, I had the house, the established career and everything. Now that I am approaching 30, I don't want to have another child because I want to be able to enjoy my 40's and beyond with my kids being able to take care of themselves. Now, this is just me, but I would not want to be 40 and just beginning to raising a child. If God gives me a child at that age, I will accept him/her, but my husband and I surely aren't planning that!

It is funny though, when my son began kindergarden this year, I was one of the OLDER parents there! My husband (who is 5 years older than me) made the comment that he seemed very old compared to the other fathers.

[Steeltrap]

I agree with the posters who are saying that it's not cute to have your first child as a teenager. Frankly, there's also a little something called welfare reform that should now be a disincentive to early motherhood.