Anyone have positive stories of babies after age 40?

I have a close friend who did not have her first baby until she was 41, her second at 43. They were both conceived naturally and are happy healthy teenage boys.

my mom had me at age 43 back in 61. if it is meant to be, it will happen.

My wife just gave birth to a healthy baby boy, naturally conceived and without complications, at 41.

When I worked in daycare, I knew several 40-ish women who had healthy children. They were also established in their careers and financially very stable.

If this is something you are considering, the best thing you can do is take care of yourself, find a great doctor, and go for it. Nothing in life is guaranteed, no matter your age.

My neighbor was born to a 42 year old mother and I think Roseanne Barr had her last child at 43? Not sure of the exact age. Both normal.

I know you asked for no advice, which I compeletely understand and respect, so I hope this question does not fall into somthing you don’t want on this thread: Are you against aborting if you find an abnormality with amnio?

Is this a first baby? There is a big difference between first and subsequent.

@JLeslie Why would she get an amnio in the first place? I was under the impression that it was not routinely performed, even in women over 40.

I have 2 friends who had their first (and only) sons at 40. There were no problems at all. There are several positive points to consider…financial stability, maturity and they may tend to be a bit more responsible, to name a couple. I was a grandmother at 34 so I obviously was a bit too young to have kids, but I don’t know that I would have wanted to have them after 40 either.

Didn’t Halle Berry have her little girl with that hot model guy when she was 42? Perfectly healthy-looking child to me, and IIRC, conceived naturally. I think the little one is about 1½ now.

Stay fit. Eat right. Have the kid with as young a guy as you can manage and get away with, and I’m only half-joking. I think Gabriel Aubry was 27 when Halle got pregnant. OTOH, David Letterman was past 60 and his wife Regina was well over 40 when she had his son. Harry looks pretty healthy, too.

Wow! Thank you all for your responses! I am so grateful…
To answer your questions…
I would not have an amnio, due to the slightly increased risks of miscarriage and the fact that I would not abort in case of abnormality.
It would be my first pregnancy other than 1 suspected miscarriage at less than 4 weeks about 2 yrs ago.
My husband is also over 40.
My favorite thing about Fluther is the willingness people have to take the time to give encouragement to other members. Thank you again!

@Snarp Well, not sure if it is technically routinely performed, but it is certainly routinely recommended after age 35 I believe. But, if a woman is not going to abort anyway, I see no point in it. But, many women still do because their doctor recommends it, or they say they want to know in advance of the birth to be prepared. Think Sarah Palin. Would never abort, but she knew before, because it is kind of standard procedure for pregnant women that old, although there is another procedure (CVS) she could have done instead of the amnio. Still, she was assessed obviously. Here is a link http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1164.asp#head1

my mom had my little sister at 47 years old….My sister is graduating top 10 among her class, getting over 20gs worth of scholarship, president of many clubs, and more…Gah I envy her….

Yes! Me! My mom was 46 when she had me. She was healthy, I was healthy and she was a great mom.

I have a sister who was 42 when she had her third baby. He was a big strapping healthy boy. Smart, active and now a good dad to his own son.

@JLeslie I don’t know, no one mentioned an amnio to my wife, I think that the blood screening and ultrasounds are performed first in most cases and the amnio isn’t recommended if those are normal. Age is mentioned as one factor in your link, so maybe some doctors will recommend it based on age alone, but I don’t think that’s common practice when there are less risky screens that can be done first.

@Snarp True, there are other indicators like bloodwork and other tests (I am not an expert on the topic) I know someone 32 who had an amnio because other tests showed a high possibility something was wrong. I have a friend who had her second child at 42, which I forgot to mention in my original post, not sure how I forgot about her, and the doctor recommended doing one because of her age, and she refused it, because she would not have aborted. But that was 15 years ago. Her baby was fine by the way. I also think it probably depends on the physician. I would want to know, because I would abort.

@JLeslie From all the baby boards I frequent, you are correct. It’s usually offered to AMA mothers (advanced maternal age..anything past 35) I think they use CVS testing more than amnio’s though, I think it’s less dangerous..I’m not sure though. It’s because of the higher frequency of down syndrome, or other “defects”.

I know of women who have conceived past 40. I’m unsure who has had IVF or not though, since I never asked how the baby was conceived…no one ever asked me! lol

@casheroo I am not sure if CVS is less dangerous?? I know it can be done earlier, so women opt for it, because they are more comfortable with aborting a younger fetus. At least that is how I understood it.

Yes, I would consent to the “triple-screen” blood test for screening and sonograms but neither the amniocentesis nor chorionic villus sampling (CVS) testing.
Any more encouraging personal stories out there??? I’m especially glad to read some for women who were close or over 45!!!

@JLeslie Oh you’re right! I figured it was safer because it samples the placenta and doesn’t mess with the sac. But, I just read on here http://www.babycenter.com/0_chorionic-villus-sampling-cvs_328.bc?page=4#articlesection9 more about it. Interesting.

@BraveWarrior From what I just read the stats go way up for genetic abnormalities after 45, so work fast!! :). Did the women in your family go through menopause late? I have never read one thing about any correlation betwee genetic defects and when menapause starts, but it just seems logical to me that the later you go through menopause, probably the more likely you still had a bunch of good eggs in your 40’s. Totally made up in my mind, and I am not a medical professional.

My aunt didn’t even get married until she was around 40. Then she couldn’t have a baby for a very long time but she and her husband now have 2 kids with another one on the way! She’s in her late 40s to early 50s now. 40 is young.

I just met a nice woman yesterday and her 1 year-old daughter. The daughter was very healthy and cute, the momma was also quite healthy and cute, and 43 years-old.
Having a baby after 40 didn’t seem to be a negative with this family. (Her husband is in his 30s).

When my sister was born, my mom was 41 and my dad was 50. She’s perfectly healthy a little annoying though…

My boyfriends little sister was born when her mom was 42 and she was born in Guatemala. She’s a very healthy and smart little girl.

My mum had me at 40 and my brother a couple of years later. No interventions and no problems and I turned out just fine.

ME! My mother had me at 41. It was a bit like having a grandma as a mother, but I’m very grateful for that now. I can cook and sew and embroider… and do all sorts of crafts. Yea! for Moms over 40!

i got pregnant at age 40 and had the baby at age 41. did not do any artificial hormones or anything to get pregnant, I conceived her naturally, i did not do amnio – nobody pushed amnio on me. i had the other tests and sonograms every time i saw the doctor, and it was determined with the other test (blood test?) that the chance of the baby having Down’s was like 1 in so many thousands, so i figured why do amnio and risk miscarriage when it seemed fine. i ate what i wanted and had 16 oz of coffee every day, i did not stress over every detail of the pregnancy, i was just like “whatever.” i delivered the baby naturally (2 days in labor, yes, water broke Tuesday night, baby came out Thursday night = two days in labor) and now she’s almost 3 and beautiful, cute, funny, everything you could want in a baby.

I Heard that when your over the age of 30. The chance’s of getting Twins is higher
Hope it helpt.

Near every one of my great aunts and aunts had babies over 40yrs old (several over 50yrs), no defects, no horrible birthings, no horror stories. I always hear people in their 20’s talk as if kids with parents in their 40’s are going to be decrepit by the time the kids graduate high school and college but if you look at most 60yrs olds these days, aside from being too fat, they’re still mobile and coherent.

A close friend of mine had her second at 41, conceived naturally and all’s well 7 years later.

i forgot to add that i have no other children, so i was not sure i could get pregnant or stay pregnant but it worked. i had this vague feeling that time was running out, and i would have been fine to not have a baby, and live a great life traveling and doing my own thing, but having a baby definitely adds another dimension to life.

Thank you all again! I’m still holding on to hope even though I’ll be 46 yrs old this summer and I appreciate and am truly grateful to all who shared such encouraging stories!
God-willing I’ll have an encouraging story to share, too, one day :)
Thanks again for sharing!