Q:Scott,
Do you think that there’s an age beyond which people shouldn’t have kids, even for the kids’ sake? For instance, who wants to be looking after a 75-year-old parent when they’re 22?
I often find myself wondering this when I see well-heeled 40-somethings and 50-somethings hauling babies around Denver.
– Just curious
SCOTT: This is a tough one for me to answer because if I say 40 is too old to have kids, I might get some negative feedback from angry 40-year-old parents and we all know I don’t want that.
Aw, what the heck? I’ll say it anyway — 40 is getting too old to have a baby and here’s why: there’s a very good chance
for complications like premature birth, low birth weight and a host of other problems.
An over-40 pregnancy is considered a high-risk pregnancy in the medical world due to the danger for both the mother and newborn. I’m not saying it can’t happen. It’s just risky.
Of course many a women over 40 have had trouble-free pregnancies and delivered healthy babies, but that doesn’t
change the fact that there was a roll of the dice involved.
So there you have it.
By the way, I’m curious. When you see these 40- and 50-year-olds hauling babies around, how do you know they’re not the grandmother or the nanny?
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