‘Giving birth in middle-age made us better moms!’ These two women said forget retirement and got pregnant in their FIFTIES – and a record number in US are doing the same

A record number of women in the US are having children between the ages of 40 and 50 – despite the health risks to themselves and their babies.

Women in their early to mid-20s have a 30 percent chance of getting pregnant naturally each month, but by middle age that drops to just a few percent. However, the rise of IVF has changed the rules.

Karen Wilson, 53, from Florida, gave birth to twins via IVF in 2022, more than 20 years after giving birth to her son. She told DailyMail.com, “The best thing about being an older mom is appreciating the privilege, the whole delivery, the whole pregnancy, and not taking it for granted. Having two beautiful children at this late age is a great blessing to me.’

Nancy Zepada, also 53, from Tennessee, became a mother for the first time in February. She was in her 40s when she realized, “I really knew I needed a baby,” but didn’t meet her husband until she was 50.

In 2021, there were 1,041 births in America to women age 50 and older, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Prevention & Control. This figure is ten times higher than in 1997, when only 144 births to women in this age group were reported. When surrogates are included, there are probably thousands more.

Due to the rising cost of living, some mothers cannot afford to have children at a younger age. Others postpone motherhood to focus on their career or have not met a suitable partner.

Older mothers have been normalized by Hollywood, with celebrities like supermodel Naomi Campbell, who became a mother for the first time at age 50 and welcomed her second child at age 53. Actress Halle Berry gave birth to a son at the age of 47, while singer Gwen Stefani gave birth to her youngest son. at 44.

But being an older mother is not without risks. Studies show that the risk of miscarriage for women between the ages of 35 and 40 is between 20 and 30 percent, and the risk rises significantly for those 40 and older.

The risk of babies being born with conditions such as Down syndrome also increases as women age. The risk of having a baby with Down syndrome increases with the age of the mother, from one in 1,250 for a 25-year-old mother to one in 1,000 at age 31, one in 400 at age 35, and one in 100 at the age of 40.

Dr. Stuart Fischer, an internist in New York, told DailyMail.com: “The chromosomes don’t divide normally and that creates problems with the microtubules in the dividing cells.’

He said, “When mitosis occurs, the cell splits in two, and the chromosomes are divided in two. They are pulled by tiny threads called microtubules. If you are of a certain age they will not work correctly; you develop three and one chromosomes instead of two and two. That is part of genetic abnormalities.’

Older women are also more likely to have children with birth defects, he added, because “the human body appears to be designed to reproduce at a younger age.”

Women over 40 are also at increased risk of preeclampsia – high blood pressure and protein in the urine during pregnancy, which can be life-threatening – and gestational diabetes – an atypically high blood sugar level during pregnancy – which can result in low or abnormally high blood sugar. birth weights and premature and difficult deliveries.

Ms Wilson, who also has a 21-year-old son, ‘always wanted to have more children’, before giving birth to twins Lily Rose and Luke Ray in April.

She said, “You realize what a blessing and a true gift it is to be able to have children at such a late age. All my friends are all grandmothers.”

However, Ms. Wilson also noticed a downside to being a parent: ‘the knowledge that I am an older mother and that I will not have as much time on this earth with them as if I were a younger mother.

“My mom just passed away and I’m 53, so I can see the damage that has done to me. It is clear that I am sad for my children, because we will not live forever. But I think the most important thing is whether you’re healthy and in the mood to take care of babies.’

In her younger years, Mrs. Wilson said she ‘just hadn’t found the right opportunity. I haven’t met the right man.’

For the twins, Mrs. Wilson was able to use the sperm of her 66-year-old partner, who already had four children between the ages of 39 and 21 from a previous relationship. He is also a grandfather to two children, and with the birth of his twins, he now has children younger than his grandchildren.

Mrs. Wilson quipped, “Don’t ask me how that’s all going to work!”

The mother of one child was approaching her late 40s when she decided she “really wanted (more) kids.”

“Time went by and I thought to myself, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never succeed,” she said.

She tried to raise a child, but was told she was “too old.”

IVF is one of the many fertility treatments available to conceive a baby. In the process, an egg cell is removed from the ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. This embryo is then implanted into the woman’s uterus to grow and develop.

Twins and triplets are more common when getting pregnant through IVF because more than one embryo is transferred during the procedure.

In April, Mrs. Wilson gave birth by cesarean section near Tampa, Florida.

Her twins are now almost five months old, healthy, and she can breastfeed them both.

She told DailyMail.com: ‘I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be the mother of two beautiful little babies. I’m so lucky.’

She added, “I have a lot more patience than I did when I was younger, and things like the baby’s crying and things like that don’t bother me as much as they did when I had my (first) son.”

Despite her joy of having twins as an older mother, Mrs. Wilson has experienced some negativity from those around her.

“Friends said, ‘You’re crazy, why would you do that?’

“The way I look at it is: your time is your time. You could be a 25-year-old mother and die in a car accident. Many people say, “What are you going to do when you’re not there?” But you know, life is entirely in God’s hands.’

Mrs. Wilson thinks the number of old mothers is growing because “the opportunities for women are so much greater than when I was younger.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Zepada became pregnant using a friend’s donor embryo and gave birth to her first child, Jason, in February.

Mrs. Zepada married at the age of 18, but divorced a few years later without children. She did not meet her current husband until she was 50 years old.

She told DailyMail.com: “We are both very happy, very happy. He is our joy.’

Most of her pregnancy was uneventful, but Ms. Zepada developed high blood pressure in her third trimester and required medication.

“In general, I did very well. I was very surprised. I could get by very easily. Like most pregnant women, I had a little bit of shortness of breath, but I was surprised I handled it well.”

She said: ‘There are some better known fertility clinics that don’t do this for older women. The doctor I went to even helped older women. He told me one of his clients was 59.

‘I have a good feeling about it. I know there are actually women who disapprove of women my age having babies, even to the point of being ugly about it, but actually (my son is) very lucky.

“My husband is retired, so either me or my husband is with him all the time, instead of having to pay for a carer, and we’re better off financially than younger people, which is an advantage. He will grow up in a very nice lifestyle and will be loved very much.’

Mrs. Zepada had always wanted children.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I couldn’t wait to grow up so I could have my own child,” she said.

“About ten years ago, I really knew I needed a baby.”

Ms. Zepada said she feels better equipped to be a mother in old age.

‘We are more mature; we can teach him more things because we have more life experience,” she said.

“When he’s older, I’ll probably be less active because of my age, but I’m pretty healthy and I plan to live a long time and be there for his grandchildren and take care of them as well.”