Should women over 50 have babies?

Should women and men over 50 have babies? With more and more women becoming first time mother's in their 40's and 50's, is is fair to their children?

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By the time the child graduates high school the mother would be considered a Senior Citizen,might be retired and on medicare and more than likely have health concerns that may burden the child. The parents would likely never be able to participate in sports with them or run on the beach and some may not even be able to keep up with a screaming toddler. I can see why a women would want to have kids at any age, but is 50+ too old to raise them the right way? Is it selfishness on the parents part, or should age not matter?

Give birth when the time is good. I know many people who became parents at an older age and these people were more mature and experienced in life and therefore able to provide a more secure loving environment for the children. Who says older parents cant participate in fun things with children? That;s a silly notion. A couple of sixty isnt exactly wheelchair bound nowa days.

My great grandmother had 13 children. They had a big farm and fed and raised them that way. She had the last of her children in her 50's. They were all healthy and greatgrandma never even stayed in bed or got sick after the births. She told me that she got up the next day and went right back to helping take care of the big garden they had. I sure did love my great greatma. She was so wise and sweet! She died at the ripe old age of 95.
If a woman is in good health and has the financial means to support a child, I say "more power to her".

[edit on 26-11-2004 by elaine]

Each to their own, I say.

The answer is no, but who's going to stop them?

[edit on 04/11/26 by GradyPhilpott]

NO? nothing else?

Could you elaborate?

I'm curious too Grady. Why not? Inquisitive minds wanna know.
Well?

My mother was 18 when she had me. She never spent much energy on me. My granny was in her 60's and 70's when i went to live with her. She took better care of me and gave me a solid home where my young inexperienced mother couldnt.

The answer is, of course they should have babies whenever they want. Since parenting isnt about running up the beach with your kids, most young parents dont spend much energy on their children anyway.

You cant stop a women from having a child because of her age. Many countries face an ageing population so it could be a good thing if the "baby boomers" had more kids. An "older" women could act as a surrogate mother to a younger couple who cant have kids.
Of course not all 50 year old women can have kids because as a guy I have heard of a rumour of something called menopause.

Sure let them have kids. It'd be facist for the government or doctors to tell them otherwise, we can't tell adult women when they can and cannot sex let alone that they are too old for it.

Though does'nt a woman stop producing eggs after 45 or so?

Originally posted by JediMasterThough does'nt a woman stop producing eggs after 45 or so?

Nope.

Many do. I'm one of those who didn't. I could (technically) get pregnant.

And I should point out that many a grandmother has raised kids after the mother abandoned them or was unable to take care of them.

Well, there are a couple of reasons why women over fifty should not have children. One is the same that men over fifty should not father children and that is because by the time their children are adult they will be elderly or dead. I'm not saying that it should never happen, because sometimes it can't be helped, but I have known a number of people over the years whose fathers were in their fifties when they were born and they all felt it was not in the best interest of the child. Another reason is gender-specific and that is, the older the woman the more risk of complicated pregnancies and birth defects.

[edit on 04/11/26 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by jeeze louise
Should women and men over 50 have babies? With more and more women becoming first time mother's in their 40's and 50's, is is fair to their children?
way? Is it selfishness on the parents part, or should age not matter?

Now the real question is "should grandmothers raise their own grandchildren?" If the grandmother of a baby from a 50 year old mother is 70 or 80, will the child be deprived?

The questions may be more medical than within a scenario of how long people will live. Naturally at the age of 50 a mother will be very concerned about nurtition, as all mothers should be, but even more deliberately.

The normative idea of should this or that be so, is too often used as the prelude to the blungeon of law. Sorry but just leave people alone to make their own decisions.

If they can get pregnant naturally, what's the problem? If not, no!

An eldlery gentleman, 84, went to the doctor and told the doctor. "I've got a 20 year old wife and she's pregnant. What do you think of that?"

The doctor said "I've got an older friend, about 80, who likes to hunt"

"The other day, when he went hunting, he grabbed his umbrella instead of his gun. He's sitting beside a creek when a beaver comes swimming along."
"He raises the umbrella and shouts "bang bang" . The beaver rolls over dead."

The Doc says "What do you think about that?"

My elderly friend says "I think someone else shot that beaver!"

The doc says "My point exactly!"

Women over 50 should really think about whether to have children, mainly because the chances of physical and mental defects are more likely to occur in the child than if the mother was of a younger age. I've read mothers over 50 are at a very high risk of their children developing something like Down Syndrome.

Having a child at any age is a huge responsibility, but is it prudent to have one when the age differece comes in? Downs syndrome, other health concerns, generation gap, how can you possibly relate to a child when 50 years divide your lives?

Being 53 myself and childless, I guess I will add my 2 cents. I would be very happy if I were able to have a child at this point in life. But, as some have mentioned, there is this hormonal thing that means,once past menopause, it's not gonna happen. The majority of women 50+ are either going through menopause or have gone through menopause.
Of course, you could use a surrogate mother and your husband's sperm, but I don't like th legal complications that would arise from that. It would be heart-breaking to adopt a baby and then have it taken away.
Actually, at 53, my husband and I have the time, the money, and the LOVE to give a child..much more so than when we were younger (unfortunately he and I didn't marry till 47, so we didn't have the option of having children younger).
My husband's mom was 44 when he was born and she lived to the ripe old age of 97..only dying a few months ago. She gave him tremendous love and tremendous joy. Meanwhile, my own mom was 22 at my birth and died at 69. So, you can't always play the numbers game with that.
Morally, and ethically, I see no reason why an older woman who's in good health, financially able, and has the love to give shouldn't have a child at a later age. Yes, there are more complications ---both for mother and child at that age--but that is something that can be taken into consideration by the individual and decided on a risk analysis. For example, my MIL had to stay in bed her entire pregnancy with my husband. I would say it was definately worth it and I'm very, very glad she took the risk of giving birth to him.
joey

It's amazing that people want to prescribe an age to have a child, yet when the discussion of people living off welfare with 10 kids comes up its always the government/society shouldn't have the right to prescribe the rights to having a child. The main criteria for having a child is (1) can I give the child love and (2) can I care for the child. Most abused children have young parents.

When Abram was 100 and Sarai 90, G-d promised Abram a son by Sarai. G-d changed Abram's name to Abraham (father of many), and Sarai's to Sarah (from "my princess" to "princess"). Sarah bore Abraham a son, Isaac (in Hebrew, Yitzchak), a name derived from the word "laughter," expressing Abraham's joy at having a son in his old age. (Gen 17-18).

A child is a blessing at any age. An elderly parent is a blessing. We Cherokee have a saying about family: 'One finger is easily broken, but a fistfull packs a punch'. There are technological fixes for the problems cited, though that is another debate.

I don't see any problem with it. Granted chances of birth defects go up, but if a couple in their 50s want children and know and accept the possible risks, hey, go for it!