India’s Vistara Plans New Routes After Inaugural Hong Kong Flight
Vistara plans to launch a handful of new routes next quarter as it approaches the end of its
2023-10-30 18:21
Toyota’s Global Sales, Output Reach Record 5.6 Million Vehicles
Toyota Motor Corp.’s global sales climbed 8.3% in April to September from a year earlier to a record
2023-10-30 13:56
Qantas Rebuts Claims of Bogus Ticket Sales on Canceled Flights
Qantas Airways Ltd. rebutted allegations by Australia’s competition regulator that the airline misled passengers by continuing to sell
2023-10-30 08:59
Apple Watch Ultra 3 Might Not Launch Until 2025
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 "offers minor refinements over the last generation," we found in
2023-10-28 07:16
Hasbro, Mattel Darken Already Gloomy Holiday Shopping Outlook
Disappointing sales forecasts from Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc., the largest US toymakers, are adding to concern that
2023-10-28 01:18
Hurricane Disaster in Mexico Spurs Criticism of AMLO Response
As an iconic Mexican resort lay devastated by a surprise hurricane, the country’s president was, quite literally, stuck
2023-10-28 00:54
Microsoft Is On Pace to Buy More Clean Jet Fuel Than Most Airlines
Some of the world’s biggest corporate consumers of air travel are investing in cleaner jet fuel, using a
2023-10-27 22:17
Cricket World Cup Winners and Losers: Beyond the Games Week 3
With five matches behind each competitor in the Cricket World Cup, tournament host India remains the only team
2023-10-27 18:57
Katharine McPhee talks new Radiance jewellery line
Katharine McPhee reveals she wanted to pass on her 'love and tradition' for jewellery in her new Radiance line.
2023-10-27 18:28
The three-year cruise is running late -- again
Life at Sea's three-year cruise is still struggling to get afloat, with a new departure date rumored to be November 30. Passengers have been told not to book travel until they receive further updates.
2023-10-27 17:49
Israel Latest: Troops Again Enter Gaza For Limited Raid
Israel said it sent troops on a limited raid into Gaza for the second night running, as preparations
2023-10-27 14:48
Your forties is the perfect decade to have your first child – I’m living my best life
Seven years ago, I was at my local antenatal class preparing for the birth of my firstborn. In my forties and armed with a coloured birthing ball, I looked around and gasped. All the other soon-to-be-mums were at least a decade younger than me. Some were nearly half my age. It briefly panicked me. Would I make any friends? Why did I leave it so late to have kids? Was I doing something wrong? In hindsight, though, I had no reason to worry: your forties is absolutely the best decade in which to have your first child. According to data published last week in The Daily Telegraph, the number of women becoming first-time mothers in their forties has increased in recent years: today, one in 25 UK births is to a woman aged 40-plus. That’s a lot of women just like me, despite the fact that getting pregnant over 35 gets you labelled as someone of “advanced maternal age”. That might sound harsh until you remember that older pregnancies used to be termed “geriatric” – thank God that’s been phased out. I’ve never regretted waiting until my forties, even if I had been trying for children for years by that point. My story is undeniably unique: my partner Alex took his own life while we were doing IVF, but that didn’t stop me from continuing to try to get pregnant. The maternal call was strong, so I decided to carry on with the process using Alex’s frozen sperm. Today I have two beautiful daughters with him: Lola, seven, and Liberty, five. It is an understatement to say I was ready for a baby at 40. I was grounded. Confident. Unlike when I was in my twenties or thirties, I knew exactly who I was and what made me tick. I had life experience. I no longer got FOMO. I didn’t even drink, having been through hell and back to become sober 20 years earlier. My career was fully off the ground, and therapy had helped me identify the family dysfunction I knew to ditch for the sake of my kids. I also wasn’t worried about my body bouncing back after the birth. I just desperately wanted to be a mum. Of course, there are all sorts of advantages to having children in your twenties and thirties. A huge bonus is that you’re simply more fertile. According to research, 31 is the magic age to have a baby – you’re still as fertile as in your twenties, but you also have more money. I’m sure motherhood in your fifties is great, too – although using your own eggs is highly unlikely, unless you froze them at some point before you turned 35. It means that some older mums often turn to donor eggs. Thinking back on my twenties and thirties, I don’t know how I would have managed motherhood. I don’t think I was ready to put my own needs on hold. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been to juggle work and my children, especially with the spiralling costs of childcare. I do accept that there are greater risks inherent in waiting to have kids. Both the quantity and quality of eggs dwindle. The rates of failed fertilisation, miscarriage and birth defects rise with age. There’s also the social pressure that comes with not having children early – you’re forced into endless conversations about the “ticking timebomb” of your fertility, and expected to fend off probing inquiries about your biological clock. The British Fertility Society advises women to start trying for a baby by the age of 32 at the latest, for a 90 per cent guarantee of having a child without resorting to IVF. But this advice simply wouldn’t have worked for me – I was determined to find the right person to have children with, and that didn’t happen until I was 35. When mine and Alex’s attempts to naturally conceive failed, and then Alex died, only at that point did I know I had the maturity to go it alone. I do have some regrets – I wish I’d frozen my eggs at the peak of my fertility in my mid-twenties, for instance (this process costs between £4,000 and £7,000 in the UK). But otherwise, having children in my forties was the right thing to do. Yes, I had my wobbles. I remember sobbing on the bathroom floor after yet another failed pregnancy test. I would berate myself for leaving it so late. I had to force myself to remember that many women experience fertility struggles in their twenties and thirties, too. All of those anxious feelings, though, flew out the window once I had my first child. When I left the hospital to begin parenthood alone, a new bag of nappies in hand, I didn’t have a meltdown. I was just so grateful that I’d had a baby, especially when the odds seemed so stacked against me. Sleepless nights trying to coax my child back to sleep were what I had most desired. It was all so good, in fact, that I went on to have a second child in my forties. I had a spare embryo in a freezer in St Petersburg. Now I call her Liberty. Every day since becoming a mum, I have embraced the mess and chaos, and appreciate every minute. I’m sure my younger self would cringe at the thought of me spending my evenings helping my children with their homework. But I’m proud to say that I’m living my best life. Read More Vanessa Hudgens addresses pregnancy speculation amid Cole Tucker engagement Rachel Bilson reveals she’s suffered multiple miscarriages Pregnant woman has maternity photo shoot in hospital before giving birth Hailey Bieber responds to ‘disheartening’ pregnancy rumours Like Rebecca Adlington, I also lost my baby at 20 weeks Britney Spears reveals she had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake
2023-10-27 13:58