What age should women have children? Fertility experts reveal the risks and rewards
IT’S called the golden decade — the 10-year window when it’s best for a woman to have a baby. And, according to fertility experts, that time starts when a woman is in her early 20s.
NSW
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IT’S called the golden decade — the 10-year window when it’s best for a woman to have a baby. And, according to fertility experts, that time starts when a woman is in her early 20s.
“Physically that’s the best time for a woman to have a baby in terms of the least complications,” fertility expert and president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Professor Stephen Robson said.
“But socially it’s a different question. Many women find in terms of stability of home, partner and income that the best time is the early 30s.”
The average age of a woman to give birth for the first time nowadays is 31, compared with 22 in 1963.
The fertility rate for 30 to 34-year-olds is the highest for all age groups.
The problem, however, is that modern life does not always support the optimum years for child birth.
Prof Robson said far too many women were still relying on assisted reproduction to have a baby in their 40s.
“Starting a family in your 40s is a recipe for heartache and disappointment,” he said.
Courtney Will was 18 and fresh out of high school when the teen got the surprise of her life.
“I fell pregnant just after my 18th birthday,” the now 22-year-old said.
“I was on the pill but it didn’t work. I wasn’t with the father at the time but when I was six months pregnant he said ‘let’s do this, yep I’m going to be a dad’ and Tom is a great dad.”
The young couple from Byron Bay in the state’s north now have two children — Freya, three, and two-year-old Oliver, who was planned.
Being a young mum is exactly what she wanted.
“I always wanted to be a young mum, not that young, but I always thought you have more chance to be active with the kids. I love it. I didn’t have a career so I’ve been able to focus on my babies,” said Ms Will, who now works in aged care, juggling the afternoon shift when her partner gets home.
The pair are saving to buy their first home and Ms Will plans to become a nurse once the children are a little older.
On the downside, while Ms Will has been bogged down with the work-life juggle of a young mum, she has watched with a little envy all her friends travelling and enjoying their youth.
DOING IVF WAS WORTH EVERY CENT FOR MIRACLE
ELIZABETH Schlossberger has just become a first-time mum at age 47.
That in itself is a miracle because even with IVF, the chances of having a baby after 45 are next to zero.
Baby Eloise is a one-in-a-million miracle.
Like most older mothers in her 40s, Ms Schlossberger found falling pregnant almost impossible.
“I waited for the right man and it didn’t happen but I always wanted to be a mum,” she said.
“It was a huge decision to go it alone but I decided I’d regret it if I didn’t try.”
At age 43, with her career as a nurse educator established and her Sydney mortgage under control, Ms Schlossberger embarked on IVF using a sperm donor.
“They told me my chances were really, really low. At 43 I had a one in 100 chance of having a live baby, but I wanted to try.
“I did 10 rounds over a three-year period.
“Once you’re on the IVF bandwagon you keep thinking maybe next time, maybe next time.
“I had a couple of miscarriages at nine weeks. You’d see a heartbeat and then on the next scan nothing.”
She refinanced the mortgage to continue IVF.
After 10 rounds at $9000 a pop, she fell pregnant in April last year.
Her risk of Down syndrome at 47 was very high, but tests came back that showed her baby was low-risk.
“I had an uncomplicated pregnancy, but my waters broke at 33 weeks and Eloise was born. It’s been worth every cent,” she said.
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Originally published as What age should women have children? Fertility experts reveal the risks and rewards
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