How old were you when you had kids?

I juss had my first baby, he is 10 months old and I am 25!!!

I had my oldest when I was 25 and my youngest when I was 29. We are planning 1-2 more children and I am 32. My mom was 30 and 36. It really depends on what you and your husband want, don't rush having children until you are absolutely ready.

I had my first at 18, and my second at 23.

18. But that was not on purpose. If I didn't get pregnant as a teen, I would have ideally wanted to wait until I was around 30 or not at all. I don't think I'm a very "mom-like" person. I love my son more than anything and I'm so glad I have him now, but I wont be having anymore. I'm more of a "loner." lol

I feel kind of the same way. I had my one and only when I was 16. She turned 18 last week and if I got pregnant now at 34, I would NOT be happy. If I had waited, I probably wouldn't have had any. Not that I don't like kids, I actually love kids. I did home daycare for several years. I just never felt a pressing need to have them.

20 and 26

Interesting to read...lots of young moms out there. I cannot even IMAGINE having kids before age 25!! Gosh, in the state of mind I was in, I was just a kid!! Just a college kid having fun, with no money or time to support a child. You guys are troopers. That being said, I am almost 26 now and I'm still not financially able to support a child without help on my own. I want to be married first and living in a stable home with stable money...I think that's the most fair to my child. I feel the pressure of people around me having kids but man, I just don't feel like I'm there yet. Sometime in the next 5 years I will be.

My mother did not have me, her first, till she was 33. She had my brother and sister at 36 and 39. You're fine! When get the baby bug is when it's time.

24,27, and 32. 32 was the best. hubby was mature enough to actually help out.so dont worry about what other people think. do what you are comfortable with.

I would not wait if you don't have some significant reasons. There are few things as painful as wanting a baby and not being able to bring one home.
The later you wait the chances of having problems with infertility, genetic problems, etc get's higher. 35 is not a magic number but merely the one doctors decided to assign the title of 'advanced maternal age' and will do extra testing.

Sooo, I struggled with 7 years of infertility and had my 1st at 28 and my second at 30. I think being older makes me a calmer and more patient parent. The only reasons that I say don't wait too long are the painful statistics.


http://php.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php?title=Genetic_risk_maternal_age

I got pregnant at 18 had her at 19. However I think it's perfect acceptable to wait. I didn't intend to have her so early. You should do what you feel is best. However now that I've had her I think it was good of me to have her early. I don't feel as though I could have managed pregnancy at an older age. I suffered from HG and low Iron. So I had a rough time. I feel right in the way things turned out.

Don't listen to others!!! I had my first at 21. I am now 34, and I feel I am soo much in a better place to be a mom. The older you are the calmer at least for me I've become. I wish I was having my 1st baby now. My sis-in-law tells me that she's told that she's too old from the doctor or friends..can't remember which as well. There are soo many more moms having kids at whatever age these days. Just think about 20 kids and counting!! Don't rush it!! I wish I hadn't.

We can all give our personal opinions and anecdotal stories of the celebrities and people we know having babies in their forties but if you are truly concerned, ask a fertility doctor for the facts. The fact is fertility declines drastically after 30. We have less eggs and many eggs are in bad shape by the late 30's. Other factors, like fibroids, polycystic ovaries and endometriosis can also contribute to infertility. A 30 year old women has a 30% chance of getting pregnant first try...by age 40 it down to a dismal 10%. 1.1 million women sought infertility treatments this past year. Infertility affects 1 in 8 couples. It is sad that many couples battle infertility in secret and spend a fortune in their attempts to conceive. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine ran a campaign some years ago to try to bring attention to aging and declining fertility but they pulled the campaign when women's rights groups protested. You can believe all you want that you can have it all, but 1.1 million of us are going to get a mighty fierce reality check.

47...sowed the wild oats first. Now @ 51 I have the motivation of keeping up with a 4 year old princess! You can see her in my pics.

Just had my first one 5 months ago at 25years old(just turned!). To me its prfect timing. I have done so much so i dont feel as tho im missing out on my "youth". I also wanted to b on the younger side. My hubby is 10 years older than me tho

I had been 18 for not quite 2 weeks when I had my daughter and 20 when I had my son. That was a lifetime ago...I love them like crazy but that was really too young to have children. I think you are a far better parent when you are a little older. If I had it to do over again I would have waited until my late 20's or early 30's.

My daughter was born when I was 20. My husband was 31, and we had been married almost 3 years when she was born. Once I lose about 25 more pounds, we are going to be trying for number 2! I can very easily see us with 5+ children though, and it took us over 16 months to conceive my daughter (there was a miscarriage in that time, too) so I'm glad that I had my first young. I do wish my husband was a little younger, but we haven't found that fountain of youth yet. lol

I think it all ultimately comes down to what point you are at in your life. At 17 I was married, and we owned both our vehicles outright. By the time I was 19, we owned our own place rent/mortgage free, and definitely not because my husband had it together when I met him - I was the one who had it all together, and he's still getting there. lol. I graduated with my first degree when I was 20, and just a few months ago I decided to go back and continue my school even further. My husband also decided to go back to school this past January. We are in a good place right now, and we are also about to expand our home to accommodate more children. My husband doesn't make a lot of money, but we have chosen to live a very modest lifestyle in order to live our lives the way we do. Money is the one thing I'll never let get in the way of having children - in reality, they don't cost as much as you'd think (the first year can easily be done for under $800). Sure we won't have college funds for our kids, but I didn't have one and that didn't stop me from achieving my dreams.

My biggest fear before having my daughter was that I'd not be able to have children - that's another reason we decided to have children young. If you really want children, really think about the reasons holding you back, because it does get harder the older you get. People put off having kids because they want to have enough money, be established in a career, get a degree, buy a house, etc., etc., but when it comes down to it, what person is ever truly in the perfect place for children? There can always be something that can be done to improve your life, but kids are pretty flexible when it comes down to that sort of thing.