Appropiate age to have children?

Sorry, you had to go thru that. i am opposite, I think I waited too long to have my last son. I had him at 31, and i have less energy and don't take him to do as much stuff as I did the other 2. I think the optimal ages to have children are between 25 and 30.

Honestly... I dont know what state you reside in, but I do hope there are statutory laws that will be pressed against this 17 year old... you were not considered old enough to consent to sex, he is considered a legal adult and therefore, statutory rape charges apply. Moving forward though, hopefully you will not get involved with a guy just yet and come to realize how much more important school is.... they are definitely not a priority....


I was not even two months out of high school when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. I was age 18, and ****using TWO birthcontrol options**** and STILL got pregnant! UGH!

I had to give up a free four-year scholarship to college because my pregnancy was considered extremely high risk. Right now, my daughter is 18 years old, she moved out and is on her own and still has one year left of high school. I worry about her jeopardizing her life if she gets pregnant with her boyfriend... Yes, I said jeopardizing.... Its too hard to be raising a baby when the teenager hasnt matured enough at all for this responsibility.

As far as your question goes... I think the 'right age' ought to be when you have completed college with a viable degree in a field you can find work in relatively easy. You need to have a roof over your head with stable income and hopefully with someone who is the opposite parent (or have a really good support system in place)....

Right now, jobs for lack of a better word: SUCK. Many people are still out of work who have decades of experience and still cant find work - or even worse, they refuse to accept a lower paying job.

Healthcare is extremely expensive.
Being a new mother, the first two years have several doctors appointments just for immunizations, follow ups, monitoring length, weight, and all that is Apgar... This means hoping and praying your employer is understanding enough that you have to take your child to these appointments.

Cost of daycare - do you make enough for rent, food, utilities, car payments, gas in the car, medications, clothing, do you even have insurance?

There is definitely alot more to having a baby in addition to the right age. Right now though, having a baby should never be any teenager's thoughts. They really should be concentrating on getting the education they need to graduate, to go to a good college, to get into the field they studied for.... and to learn what it truly means to be on their own - before any baby is brought in.

I think this truly is an individual thing, and there is no perfect age.

I got married at 18, had my first child at 19, and my second at 21. I wouldn't change a thing, but I also wouldn't encourage anyone to start a family that young without really thinking it through.

We were very fortunate to be able to support our family on our own without having to ask for help, but we've made sacrifices to do that. Our kids have never gone without what they need, but as a family we don't always get to have what we want (does that make sense) I know that, if we had waited until we were older, and if I had gone to college *before* having kids, that might be different.

My husband and I have talked about that, though. We didn't wait for the "right time" but, honestly, there never would have been a "right" time for us. Maybe we should have waited until I had gone to college. But if we had, I probably would have wanted to work for a few years first. And then we would have wanted to be able to enjoy the results of that hard work and traveled, etc... and then I would have worried that we were getting "too old" (whatever that means) ... who knows if the timing ever would have been right.

Lol you sound like my wife! I had her convinced on it and then when I turned 26 and we had been married for 6 years, she said okay we have a house, cars, and have traveled you ARE GIVING ME A BABY!!! Now that I have an amazing kid (and pressure for another one now...O.O) I can't picture my life without my lil' guy. Just an amazing experience and I just love watching him grow every day, at the age of 3 he is constantly amazing me and knocking my socks off with what the figures out, thinks, and does.

Wow. I'm actually speechless. Most of the girls in my year at school have had babies earlier, but anything under the age of 18 is silly in my opinion.

I don't believe in bringing a child into the world unless you can support it. As 20 year old girl living in quite a rough area of England, I see girls having babies so young, and then living on benefits for the rest of their lives.

I have been with my husband since we were 18 (there's less than a month between us in age), moved in together at 21, we got married at 24 and had our first baby at 25, we had jobs, a house, car, dog, hamster, goldfish and felt we were ready for the BIG step of starting a family. Had second baby at 31 and 3rd and last at 35.

I was the first out of my group of friends to have babies, a few left it till nearer 30 and beyond, my sis in law waited till late 30's because of career, then found out she had fertility problems, its one of her regrets that she waited, she is now almost 50 and childless.

Who's to say what age is the right age, its worked for us

I think I'm not going to have a baby before I'm 36. I live in Istanbul and people here usually don't have children before they get a proper job and a house, so the majority of the people here have children when they're 28-35. But of course there's a minority (most (not all but most) of these people are uneducated and lower class) who have children in their teens and such. When it comes to me, I want to live my twenties as I wish, without the responsibility of having a child. Also, at this time of my life (I'm 20) I'm still selfish enough to think that I don't want to ruin my body with having a child. But most importantly, my studies (I'm going to collage) and (eventually) my career comes first.
I see that some (minority, maybe? - I don't exactly know) people in USA and UK are having children at very young ages - anything below 26-28 is considered very young for me - and I have never been able to understand why people (intentionally or unintentionally) are having children at young ages and risking their studies and careers.
I don't know, maybe it's a cultural thing. Or, maybe it's because it's harder to find a job in Turkey so (if you want to get a job you should study very hard) teenagers here prefer to focus on their studies. Could be both too.
Anyway, so the appropriate age for ME to have children is 36.

I feel like there is no specific age. I think so long as the parents are financially stable and able to support their child/children it's fine. I wish my mom had not gotten pregnant at such a young age because she never went to college, never got a real job, and had to give up a lot of things she could have done with her life and had 3 kids before she was 21. Her and my father are great parents, but they never learned how to properly manage their money because they just kind of barely scraped by. Even now I don't feel like they'd be financially stable enough for kids.

i was 23 when my first daughter was born

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I dont plan on having biological children, but I would guess maybe 24-25 at the earliest for most people. I say this because that is when the brain is completely formed.

My mom had me when she was 43 though...rather late, but she was a great mom! I think having an older mom was beneficial in that she was more mature and stuff though ^^

BTW I am so sorry that happened to you ^^ You didnt deserve that, and I think the abortion was the right thing to do. It wasn't like you were using it as a form of birth control, you were taken advantage of. You sound like a mature young woman now, but a child is at least an 18 year commitment.

I was 19 and wouldn't have it any other way. I had all three of my kids by the time I was 25.