How Old is Too Old...

[Hobbit]

...to have kids?

No matter what your answer is, I think we can all agree that 63 is too old. It's not like it was an accident, either. This woman was undergoing fertility treatment.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/05/04/britain.mother.reut/index.html

Think about this poor kid. This mom will be...EIGHTY-FRICKIN'-TWO when the kid graduates from high school. Can you imagine being sixteen and having to help change your mom's diapers. This poor child may have to put his mom in a home before he even gets married, and may grow up wondering why his friends never want to play shuffleboard and canasta. It is just me or is this just a really stupid idea?

 

[Joz]

I agree that it's too old. But that's just me.
My mother tho't she was pregnant when I was a senior in HS ; I was 17 and I tho't my life was over! I figured she was too old & I'd have to raise the child.
Yet my aunt had a child in her 40's. She wanted a baby so badly that from time to time she took on pregnancy symptoms to no avail. She only had the one, but until she died, she would had more if she could have.

 

[Hobbit]

I agree that it's too old. But that's just me.
My mother tho't she was pregnant when I was a senior in HS ; I was 17 and I tho't my life was over! I figured she was too old & I'd have to raise the child.
Yet my aunt had a child in her 40's. She wanted a baby so badly that from time to time she took on pregnancy symptoms to no avail. She only had the one, but until she died, she would had more if she could have.

I can understand the desire for motherhood. I'm a guy, and even I can't imagine what it would be like to hear that I can't ever have children of my own. However, I also believe God invented menopause for a reason, but that's just me.

Edit: Ya know, I meant to put this in the health forum, but I guess this works.

 

[Nienna]

I know a woman who had her tenth kid when she was 50. The older kids really did have to help a lot. However, she wasn't "trying" to conceive. She was Catholic.

 

[Trigg]

I can understand the desire for motherhood. I'm a guy, and even I can't imagine what it would be like to hear that I can't ever have children of my own. However, I also believe God invented menopause for a reason, but that's just me.

If a women is able to have children naturally at say...46 than obviously she's not to old. I don't think women should be going through fertility treatments at 50 and 60, they need to consider at how that will affect the child. The possibility of birth defects also climbs considerably as a women gets older.

For me personnally I wanted to have all my children before 30, my last was born when I turned 33. I wanted to be a young mom so I could enjoy getting down on the floor and running around with them.

 

[dmp]

The worst part of this story is the thought of old people doin' it

 

[Joz]

The worst part of this story is the thought of old people doin' it

I can't believe would discrimate love making because of age.

 

[dmp]

I can't believe would discrimate love making because of age.

erp?

 

[Avatar4321]

Well i dunno im rather glad Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac at such an old age. The entire world would be different. Course they lieved for well over a hundred years back then.

 

[Hobbit]

Well i dunno im rather glad Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac at such an old age. The entire world would be different. Course they lieved for well over a hundred years back then.

Yeah, and there's also the whole divine command thing. There's always an exception in the case of a divine command.

 

[Joz]

It wasn't the fact that Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born. He lived to be 175. But the fact that Sara's womb had passed child bearing capabilities even tho' she too, lived much older than we do today.

 

[Phaedrus]

Hey all, I think the basic question here is one of love. Certainley there is the argument that she was irresponisble in having the child, but you cannot deny the fact that she wanted it, and will love and care for it as best she can. We have no right to say she cannot have a child; you cannot legislate morality and remain moral.

Love has been defined tenetivley as the ability to let go. Whether you accept/abide by this definition is up to you. Were I in her position, it would give me pause. Does she love the child enough before conception to override her desire to have it? Is there an opposition here?

Regardless of all of this, is the fact that the child is now in the flesh incarnate, and nobody can deny its right to life. How he/she feels about his situation is his/her perrogative; would you deny your mother care?

Life is a beautiful/terrible thing, wish them the best of luck.

 

[Joz]

The points of increased birth defects have been mentioned as well as there is a reason women go through menopause. And it's not like she hasn't experienced childbirth or motherhood. She has grown children. And there are plenty of children already on this earth that could use a good home/mother. If this were a freak accident then she would have my sympathy. But to purposely do this.....I don't know. None of us are guarenteed we'll be here tomorrow. But as age increases, so does that possibility. Why would you deliberately cause someone else to have to raise your child?

 

[Phaedrus]

because you love it.

 

[Joz]

Sure you would provide for your child in the absence of you not being here. But to me, this woman is not thinking of the child, but her own desire. As I stated, there are children already here that could use a home.

 

[Phaedrus]

You are arguing potential, and using ends based logic. Can you deny she would love her child the little time she was with it? Can you deny even if she had died in child birth she loved the child? Is not love worth more than anything else in this world? Am I being overly romantic? Regardless of whether she had the child or not, there are plenty of children who do not even have this. Regardless of poverty and situation, this child is far better off than those poor children. Certainley there is a burden implied, but life is a burden, and it's your choice to shoulder it or not. Would you deny the child care? Would you deny the Mother care? Would you deny anybody care?

Don't you dare bring up mercantilism, there is room.

 

[Nienna]

The worst part of this story is the thought of old people doin' it

Sooo... you're 33, right? How many more years before you stop doing it?

 

[Hobbit]

You are arguing potential, and using ends based logic. Can you deny she would love her child the little time she was with it? Can you deny even if she had died in child birth she loved the child? Is not love worth more than anything else in this world? Am I being overly romantic? Regardless of whether she had the child or not, there are plenty of children who do not even have this. Regardless of poverty and situation, this child is far better off than those poor children. Certainley there is a burden implied, but life is a burden, and it's your choice to shoulder it or not. Would you deny the child care? Would you deny the Mother care? Would you deny anybody care?

Don't you dare bring up mercantilism, there is room.

Yes, you're being overly romantic. Love, precious as it is, won't feed this kid, give him a decent upbringing, take him to school, play catch with him, or many of the other things required for healthy growth. While love plays an important part in child rearing, it takes a hell of a lot more than love to raise a child. It's hard frickin' work, and I know that just from being an older brother. I can't imagine what it's like for the mom, and I don't think there's a whole lot of 63 year old people capable of raising a child to the age of majority. Then there's the idea that this kid will be lucky if he gets to wait until he's 30 to bury his own mother. That's just sad.

 

[Phaedrus]

Sadness is inherent to life. It is "frickin hard work" to raise a child, but it needs doing, and it either will be, or it won't. I guess the basic issue I'm having with your argument is you're putting the ability to raise a child over the right to have a child. Where do you get off saying something like that? i.e. step off

This is where I believe we will have to agree to disgree. No disrespect intended, but certain views simply cannot be reconciled, and thats alright.

Respectfully,
Phaedrus

 

[Hobbit]

Sadness is inherent to life. It is "frickin hard work" to raise a child, but it needs doing, and it either will be, or it won't. I guess the basic issue I'm having with your argument is you're putting the ability to raise a child over the right to have a child. Where do you get off saying something like that? i.e. step off

This is where I believe we will have to agree to disgree. No disrespect intended, but certain views simply cannot be reconciled, and thats alright.

Respectfully,
Phaedrus

I say this becuase I don't think the right to have a child supercedes the rights of that child to not being condemned to a pretty sad life. If it had happened by accident, then whatever, stuff happens, and she'd probably be looking for a lot of help and maybe even putting the kid up for adoption. However, she, at 63, decided that she SOOOO wanted a little baby of her very own that she deliberately sought out fertility medicine that would allow her to get pregnant. Call me cynical, but when I think of somebody doing this, I can't see the love of the child in it. All I see is the woman loving only herself and that her desire to have a baby is more important to her than being able to provide for that baby. *I*, a young, engergetic male, can barely keep up with a 2 year old. She'll be 66 when this child turns 2. This kids' life is gonna suck, at least until he's old enough to leave the nest, and for this granny aged momma (she's onder than any of my grandparents were when I was born) to go out of her way to subject some innocent child to that for her own self satisfaction is cruel and selfish.