Late Motherhood and Lifespans

Filed in archive Other Pregnancy Issues on May 8, 2009

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While there are many advantages to having children early in life (more energy for late nights, for example), having kids later in life also make a lot of sense (more prepared emotionally, financially etc). Most women know that getting pregnant is not something one can postpone indefinitely, though. While the "deadline" is different from person to person, it si generally believed that once you hit your 40's, conceiving can get difficult.

Nothing new in all these. But here's something interesting: do you know that, according to a recent survey or records, women who have babies naturally in their 40s or 50s tend to live longer than other women? Even more interesting is that brothers of such late mothers also live longer!

"If women in your family give birth at older ages, you may well have a chance of living longer than you would otherwise," says the study's lead author, demographer Ken R. Smith, a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. "If you have a female relative who had children after age 45, then there may be some genetic benefit in your family that will enhance your longevity."

For descendants of the Utah and Quebec pioneers studied, "you may be able to look at the ages when your female ancestors gave birth - rather than just their longevity - in estimating how long you may live," says Smith, whose study will be published online May 4 and in the June 10 print issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences.

Are there late mothers in your family?