by Nobody Good

Created on: February 12, 2009

There is absolutely no reason why a women should not consider pregnancy in their 40s. A woman has a right to have a child at any age she chooses. With our advancing society people are living longer than ever. Childbirth used to be something people did in their teen years because they were only going to live to be 25. This was when teen pregnancies were a good thing! Nowadays the average person lives into their 80's. People have more medical care and are healthier than ever. So, there is no reason that a woman cannot give birth to a healthy baby at 40. I can see the problem with a 50 or 60 year old woman giving birth. By the time the baby is a teenager the mother will be too old to be good parent. However, 40 is a very reasonable age to become pregnant.

In today's society women are very busy. Many women go to college and have very demanding but succesful careers. This does not leave a lot of time for a pregnancy. Therefore many mothers may choose to postpone having a baby until they are established in their careers. It is very difficult to have a baby while a woman is in college. Then, after college it takes a while to become established in their career field. So, 40 is a very good time for many women to choose to have a child.

Many celebrities have waited until their 40s to get pregnant. Madonna and Selma Hayek and two very good examples. They are very energetic and healthy. They were able to have successful pregnancies in their 40s. My mother-in-law had her 5th child at 45. Granted it was a surprise pregnancy and she was not one to take very good care of herself. Even still she was able to have a healthy pregnancy and deliver safely. It did not cause any problems with her health or the child's health. Now, if she can do it I know that anyone can.

I, myself, had my first child at 32. This in not quite 40 I realize but it is not exactly young either. I am happy I waited and I may have more children. I would definitely consider pregnancy in my 40s. Although If I am going to have another baby I plan to do it before I reach 40 because I do not want there to be too big of an age gap between my children. Health-wise, though, I would have no problem with getting pregnant in my 40s.

We are a modern society with very advanced healthcare. This is a great thing and we should rejoice as this allows us the oppurtunity to do many things that our ancestors were not able to do in their lifetime. Having a baby at a much older age than our ancestors is just one of the many things available to the "middle aged woman"!

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