The Late-in-Life Mom Trend Continues

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Women worldwide are delaying when they have their first child compared to women in generations past, according to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) report.

~From 1970 to 2006, the proportion of first births to women aged 35 years and over increased nearly eight times. In 2006, about 1 out of 12 first births were to women aged 35 years and over compared with 1 out of 100 in 1970, according to the CDC.


~During that same 36 year time span, the average age of first-time mothers increased 3.6 years from 21.4 to 25.0 years, the CDC said.


~ The average age at first birth increased for all racial and ethnic groups between 1990 and 2006. In 2006, Asian or Pacific Islander women had the oldest average age at first birth (28.5 years), whereas American Indian/Alaska Native women had the youngest (21.9 years); a difference of 6.6 years, statistics showed.

Just Making Sure

Getting my caboose kiddo ready for school this morning.
Zipping up her jacket. Kissing her forehead.
"You know, I sure was surprised when I found out you were coming along," I told her. "But, I'm so glad you surprised me."
She giggled and then headed out the door with a smile on her face.
I meant what I said--and it was tinged with only a little bit of guilt.
When I wrote Baby Changes Everything: Embracing and Preparing for Motherhood after 35, I was honest about how shocked I was by my pregnancy at 41.
S-H-O-C-K-E-D.
For awhile, I felt like I was going in reverse and fast-forward at the same time.
My caboose kiddo is now almost 8. She's old enough to know the book is about her--that there would have been no book if there had been no her.
I just want to make sure she never doubts that I love her and I want her in my life.
I admit to being an initially reluctant Mommy-Come-Lately®, but I truly am loving late-in-life motherhood now. I also admit it took a little while for my emotions to stop reeling and for me to wrap my brain around the sudden u-turn in my life back to maternity clothes and morning sickness and being a 41-year-old mom-to be.
I've met other women surprised by late-in-life motherhood--one just a couple of weeks ago when I spoke at a Hearts at Home conference. She was trying to grasp the reality that she was pregnant again at 41.
Sounded familiar.
We hugged--and I told her that it was okay that she wasn't over-the-moon thrilled about her pregnancy right that minute. I believe she will fall in love with her caboose kiddo minute by minute, day by day--experience by experience. That's how it happens sometimes.
That's how it happened for me.

Get Smart and Late-in-Life Motherhood

"Your old ovaries give me hope."

~ Comment of a thirty-something unmarried friend

Guess who's talking about older moms?
Maxwell Smart and Agent 99.
Yep, you got that right.
My hubby and I went to see the new Get Smart movie because we were both fans of the original TV series. Yes, I'm showing my age--but hey, if you read my book you can figure out how old I am anyways!
Agent 99 confesses that her round of plastic surgery to protect her identity also makes her look younger than she really is. She is, she admits, closer to Max's age.
Without missing a beat, Max launches into the dangers of waiting to have a baby. He tells Agent 99 her eggs could dry up.
Later in the movie, Agent 99 hassles Max about hassling her about her "dusty uterus."
Yes, I was laughing.
At the same time, I was marveling that late-in-life motherhood is such a hot topic--such a trend--that is it showing up in a hit movie.
And sure, we need to have a sense of humor about being mommies-come-lately.
But I'm betting that women over 35 who are battling infertility probably aren't laughing. Fertility is a tough hurdle to face on the way to motherhood.
And sometimes it is an insurmountable one.