In a previous blog I pondered the question of when exactly are you too old to have a baby. I reported on the 62-year-old who recently became Britain’s oldest mother. The other day I ran across a poll at Yahoo! that asked the same question. Seems one of the Yahooligans wanted to know and I quote,“Should women in their sixties be having babies, is it fair to the baby? How old will the child be when he/she is orphaned?
The second part of this question plays on the myth that many people unfortunately hold as truth and that is the notion that older parents will definitely die while their child is still young. I was disturbed by some of the answers from these young childless respondents.
Mind you only 11 people answered so it’s not really representative of the nation’s attitude as a whole, or at least I hope it’s not. The results? Well, it seems that 32% of the voters agreed it was not only unfair but cruel since neither parents will likely see their child become a teenager.
Another respondent argued that “old women should not be birthing children late in life”. This same person felt that our bodies “were made to have children when we are young.” Another angry respondent said that an older women would be selfish and only “thinking of herself, NOT the wellbeing of the child”.
And one respondent simply said quote, Yukky! And yet another respondent felt that not only are we selfish and self-serving but we are creating a world in which our offsprings will have to choose between going to college and “staying home to change his/her parent’s diapers.” Most of the comments were of that nature with only one or two favorable ones.
I wonder what the real problem is? Is it the fact that older women are supposed to be sex-less after a certain age? Is this why the idea is so disturbing to some people?
With all the celebrities giving birth late in life the spotlight is shining brightly on midlife mothers. But the fact is women having babies late in life is really nothing new. My mom was a mid-life mom and I know several women in the neighborhood who were also mid-life moms. Having a baby at whatever age is all about personal choice. No, I personally could not handle another baby at my age but I certainly would not turn my nose up at a women of fifty or even sixty who makes the decision to do so. By all accounts women will continue to have babies late in life. So hopefully people will one day soon come to realize that we’re not an oddity. We’re simply mothers.