Modern Maternity
More women are having kids after 40, but whether they did it with medical help or not, the road to motherhood can be rough.
Jennie Villa wanted to have it all. A great education and career. Financial security. A loving husband. And kids. For Villa, the dream came true, albeit a little later than she would have liked. At age 37, she met that man of her dreams. Three years later they got married. This past August, at age 41, Villa, of Cleveland, gave birth to fraternal twins: a son, Quinn, and daughter Kendall. Her life, she says, is "pretty perfect." And when it comes to her kids, she is over the moon. "I think they're a miracle," says Villa, who got pregnant the old-fashioned way, without the use of assisted reproductive technologies.
Any woman who has had a child after age 40 can understand Villa's hyperbole. That's because, statistically speaking, the chances of having a successful pregnancy at what doctors call an "advanced maternal age" are fairly dismal. By about age 40, a woman's chance of getting pregnant naturally is only about 5 percent in any given month (down from about 20 percent at age 30). The use of assisted reproductive technologies ups the odds—but not as much as it could if a woman were younger. By age 45, a woman's chance of getting pregnant with her own eggs is virtually zero.
Still, some women are defying those odds. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of mothers giving birth at age 40 or older has doubled in the last several decades, partly due to medical assists like in vitro fertilization or the use of donor eggs.
The reasons women become first-time moms or add to the brood later in life are as varied as the women themselves. There are career goals to meet. And bank accounts to grow. Some women waited for marriage. Some never married at all. There are second marriages. And even surprise births.
For those who wait, getting pregnant is a roll of the dice even with the help of science. "Not every egg over age 40 is created the same," says Dr. Karen Ashby, assistant professor of reproductive biology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Some healthy women will get pregnant without a problem, other women simply won't."
It's clear that even as medical interventions are helping more older women get pregnant, science can't keep up with the increase in the number of women who delay childbearing and then find themselves battling the clock. For every high-profile midlife mom like actress Marcia Cross or Nicole Kidman, there are lots of women who can't get pregnant. The total number of women age 40 to 44 who don't have kids at all is about 20 percent—double what it was 30 years ago, according to a census report released in August.
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Member Comments
Posted By: efinder @ 11/05/2008 3:46:52 PM
Comment: Lots of older family members were born when their moms were over 40. They are healthy and reached old age.
Maybe many women who have problems at a later age would have had problems also earlier on. In some cases maybe some people age different and have more problems. Then others are healthy and able to conceive, give birth and be an active parent (going to the gym and also like to catch a ball)
Doesn't male sperm reduce potency after 40? Probably or maybe not. But nobody talks about it. Or it doesn't matter...
I work with handicapped people. Most of them were born to parents in their 20's. And they were born 25, 30 or more years ago, when science didn't sort out just yet who should stay and who should go!!!!!
Lifestyle must have an inpact. Thats for sure. Maybe is something in the food?. Although it seems that women with much less in third world countries become pregant a lot with mostly healthy babies (being adopted by fertile and infertile in the west)
A lot of this so called "objective information" concerning pregnancy after 35 or 40 is more political "based on statistics" than the real life individual women are living today in this society.
When you smoke you know it is a hazard to your health. When your body can get pregnant when it can, either at 35, 40, 45..., it is not a hazard. It is life, not a statistic. Life is always a risk.
Posted By: gratefultobeamom @ 10/15/2008 7:10:38 PM
Comment: Hi. I am 47 with a ten year old and an 18 month old. My ex husband and I suffered through three years of male factor infertility and went though three cycles of ICSI to have our son. I had a miscarriage, a failed attempt, then a premature birth 10 weeks early. Luckily our son is fine now. Unfortunately my ex and I divorced. My current partner is 51 and the father of my 18 month old. We were amazed and thrilled to have a pregnancy the traditional way. Unfortunately my high blood pressure was much worse and I delivered 15 weeks early. Our baby nearly died, and he is a miracle. The whole thing is a miracle, conceiving at 45 and delivering days before my 46th birthday. After a 6 month NICU stay, our baby went home on oxygen and 12 medications. He is now doing beautifully. The clincher is I am an OB/GYN and am painfully aware of the risks, but my time was running out and there was my chance. During my pregnancy I delivered a 48 year old woman and thought if she could do it so could I. Well I barely squeaked by and this is the end of the line for me. But I am grateful I was never talked out of it or judged by my doctors. They were wonderful and put up with a lot - it is true that doctors make the worst patients.
Posted By: The Infamous Wife @ 10/13/2008 2:21:13 PM
Comment: I am a 21 year old that got pregnant easily. I wish that all women who want to have children at any age should be allowed to try.
The worst thing that I can imagine is being alone and pregnant and being ridiculed because of your age. Many older women that I am close friends to have had children alone. They were the subjects of the most unsually cruel comments. What I don't understand is why women who are older, alone or not are catching as much if not more flack than young 18-, 19-, 20-somethings who got pregnant and left the father.
I only wish that is were cheaper for women to try and concieve than it is.