I was in my early fifties when my daughter was born, and my wife was in her early forties.
I think there are good things about being older parents. At our age, we were far more capable of not sweating the small shit than when we were young, and social pressure to parent in a particular way - from friends, family and strangers - resulted in a response that was basically, "Thanks for your opinion, but kindly fuck off," rather than insecurity and uncertainty about our ability to raise our kid. Also, we were much more financially secure than we were at the usual child-having age, which was helpful, since kids can be far more expensive than you ever imagine.
I don't know where you live, but I'm sure older parents are becoming more common just about everwhere, and doctors are far more aware of the issues that can arise with older mothers than they used to be.
My wife did have medical issues - including pre eclampsia - which made the late stages of her pregnancy and childbirth a little traumatic, but we think that was mainly because her medical care could have been better.
Obviously, you can't roll back the calendar, and you are the age you are. If you really feel that you want to have a child, try to figure out why that is, and take an objective look at the implications for you in terms of money and time.
One thing that I realised is that nobody really understands what it's like to be a parent until you are one. Even if there have been loads of babies in your family and your circle of friends and you've been watching loads of kids grow up all your life, having your own is a completely different experience.
Is it normal to have a kid at 39?
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I was in my early fifties when my daughter was born, and my wife was in her early forties.
I think there are good things about being older parents. At our age, we were far more capable of not sweating the small shit than when we were young, and social pressure to parent in a particular way - from friends, family and strangers - resulted in a response that was basically, "Thanks for your opinion, but kindly fuck off," rather than insecurity and uncertainty about our ability to raise our kid. Also, we were much more financially secure than we were at the usual child-having age, which was helpful, since kids can be far more expensive than you ever imagine.
I don't know where you live, but I'm sure older parents are becoming more common just about everwhere, and doctors are far more aware of the issues that can arise with older mothers than they used to be.
My wife did have medical issues - including pre eclampsia - which made the late stages of her pregnancy and childbirth a little traumatic, but we think that was mainly because her medical care could have been better.
Obviously, you can't roll back the calendar, and you are the age you are. If you really feel that you want to have a child, try to figure out why that is, and take an objective look at the implications for you in terms of money and time.
One thing that I realised is that nobody really understands what it's like to be a parent until you are one. Even if there have been loads of babies in your family and your circle of friends and you've been watching loads of kids grow up all your life, having your own is a completely different experience.