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According To Women, 44 Is Too Old To Have A Baby

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A new survey has revealed that the majority of British women think 44 should be the cut off point for having a baby [Photo: freestocks.org via Pexels]

Too young, too old? Is there ever really a perfect age to have a baby? Maybe not, but in the week news broke that Janet Jackson is reportedly pregnant with her first child at the tender age of 49, British women have revealed they believe 44 is ‘too old’ to have children.

According to a new survey for the Private Pregnancy UK Show the majority of British women believe it is ‘unnatural’ to have babies over the age of 44. Their main reasons were that it could increase the risk of health complications for the child, and that it would be unfair of the child to have old parents, who may not live long enough to see them grow up.

Dr Amin Gorgy, fertility consultant and IVF specialist at The Fertility & Gynaecology Academy, commented on the findings “IVF must be put into perspective if used after the age of 35 as the chances of having a live birth with an IVF cycle declines dramatically with age, for example, there is a 20 per cent success rate at the age of 40 which falls to just one percent above the age of 45.”

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Women want more education about their fertility [Photo: jianfeng lai via Pexels]

He went on to say that the ‘ideal’ age for women to become pregnant was in their twenties and early thirties.

“A woman’s fertility potential declines rapidly after the age of 35 and drops even faster after the age of 40.

“Indeed, successful egg freezing through vitrification has made it possible for women to postpone conception to later in life but as a society, we should be encouraging couples to have children at a younger age, in fact, I recommend that couples should aim to complete their families by the age of 35.

“There isn’t enough education available to women, many of whom still believe they can go on forever.”

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Is there ever a perfect age to have a baby? [Photo: Martinus via Pexels]

Three in four women polled for the research agreed with Dr Gorgy claiming there isn’t enough fertility education available for women about not ‘leaving it too late’ to start a family, or about the options available to help preserve a woman’s fertility.

Annie Francis, chief executive at Neighbourhood Midwives, agreed that it is much more difficult to conceive after the age of 44, but believes many women would find the survey results ‘very judgmental’.

“The great challenge is getting pregnant after 44, but, if you can, there are many advantages to being an older parent, such as more life experience,” she told Metro.

“Sometimes women aren’t in the right circumstances to get pregnant. If they can later that’s something to be celebrated.”

How old is too old to have a baby? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

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