There’s no magic age that’s best for getting pregnant, but we do hear a lot about how much harder it gets as you get older. But one OB-GYN on TikTok is going viral for sharing the benefits - to both moms and their kids - of waiting to have children later in life.
In a video, Dr. Christine Noa Sterling replies to a comment on the screen that reads, “Having old parents is really hard!” She begins by saying yes, having old parents can be hard, but having young parents can also be hard. She goes on to explain, “Here’s why I will always want to support people who want to delay childbearing, even if that means they’re going to be of advanced maternal age.” In the U.S. advanced maternal age is considered being 35 or older when you have your baby.
According to Sterling, there are a lot of benefits to waiting to have kids later in life, including:
- Having kids when you’re older can increase longevity for moms. “There is evidence that pregnancy after 35 could actually fundamentally change the aging process by impacting something called telomeres which are crucial in the genetics of aging,” she explains.
- There are also benefits to the kids of older parents, including that they do better in school, are healthier and they have fewer social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.
- Sterling acknowledges that the reality is that there’s an increased risk of chromosomal abnormalities, including things like Down syndrome, for those who get pregnant at an older age. But she says she’s trying to add some balance to the conversation by highlighting the good things that can come with having kids later in life.
Source: BuzzFeed
Scott's Thoughts:
- Why do people act like nothing bad can happen if you have kids when you’re young? Anything can happen, even when you’re under 25.
- Waiting till our 30's worked well with our family.
- From my perspective, waiting till 30s had advantages for the dad too!