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Modern women are in no hurry to have children: they want to live for themselves, to make a career. At the same time, public opinion still advocates early motherhood, and later regards it only as the disastrous costs of emancipation. New research is forcing this traditional view to be revisited.
The stereotypical idea of childbearing is as old as the world: you need to acquire offspring while you are young. Then you, and therefore your children, are healthier—and ultimately happier. Maybe. However, a growing body of research is saying that while the dangers of late motherhood are real, there are also significant benefits.
The latest large-scale and long-term study on this topic was conducted in Denmark and covered 4741 mothers and their children. The control points were the age of children: 7, 11 and 15 years.
It turned out that mothers of mature age used verbal and physical punishment less, and later children had fewer problems in behavior, social adaptation and emotional development (at least at 7 and 11 years old).
The positive results of parenting were largely due to the patience and poise that come with age to parents. Here are a few more reasons not to be afraid of late motherhood.
Late mothers live longer
According to a 2016 study of 28 American women, those who gave birth after age 000 were 25% more likely to live to age 11. The result of the 90 study is even more curious: in women who gave birth after age 2014, 33% more likely to live to 50 than those who had their last child at 95 or earlier.
However, it is still unknown what caused this. Perhaps these “late mothers” were initially healthier.
Late kids are taller and smarter
In 2016, experts in Sweden studied 1,5 million men and women and found that children born to mature women are better physically developed, have better academic performance and are slightly taller than children of younger mothers.
Here, too, there is no certainty: women who were healthy enough to have children in adulthood could simply pass on their resilient genes to them.
Demographic factors also play a role: income and education. More money in the family means better food. Well-to-do moms with high-paying jobs tend to have more reason to put off having a baby.
Late Moms Have More Energy
Observation of women who have become mothers after 50 years of egg donation shows that their level of energy and physical functioning is the same as that of women who gave birth in their 30s or 40s.
Late motherhood is trending today. In the US, the age at first birth has increased from 2000 to 25 since 26, and in some states it is even higher. In Sweden, 25% of women giving birth are women aged 35 and older. In Denmark, since 1985, the number of children born to women over 40 has quadrupled. In developed countries, unlike developing countries, favorable conditions have been created for this, qualified medical care and reproductive treatment are more accessible. This means that the dangers associated with late motherhood are reduced.
What about fathers?
Physiologically, a man can become a father not only in adulthood, but also in old age. However, researchers have found that late fatherhood is associated with a risk to the health and development of the child: more likely to develop autism and certain types of cancer. The reason for this is genetic mutations in sperm. The seminal fluid is updated approximately once every 16 days, and with each time the risk of genetic disorders increases.