For women who want to get pregnant after the age of 35, they need to consider that there can be a number of risks involved. A big one would actually be getting pregnant and if that those does happen then there are other risks for both the mother and her child. Some risks for the mother would be diabetes, high blood pressure, and weight loss. The mother also has a higher percentage of going into premature labor which usually isn’t good for them or the child. For their baby’s health, there is a number of things that could occur such as genetic materials can be altered, and miscarriages are more common when a woman who is having a child is older. (March of Dimes.org, 2016)
With the baby having a greater risk of birth defects, some can end up with Down syndrome which is also called trisomy 21 where the chromosomes in the child are altered and the child will have an extra copy of chromosome 21.(march of dimes.org, 2016) Children could also develop Turner syndrome which affects females.(ghr.nlm.nih.gov, 2020) This happens when there is one normal X chromosome in the female child and the other one is gets altered or just ends up missing. Another one is Klinefelter syndrome which is known as 47, where males have more X chromosomes than they need. This affects testicular growth in males where they produce very little or sometimes no sperm. It also affects muscle growth and motor development in the child.(mayoclinic.org, 2019)
Women pregnant at 35 plus are recommended to get genetic screening of their child and undergo fetal monitoring. If they find something wrong, doctors can help by supplying supplements to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as it can. (march of dimes.org, 2016)
I personally believe that a woman can get pregnant whenever she wants. It would be best if they didn’t wait until they are older but the choice is always theirs. My mother had me when she was 36 and for the most part, I think I turned out just fine and if it was the time for me to have kids then I would be all for it. Society is having to face this issue more because people are getting married at an older age and that’s just when they decide to have kids. More times than not, it’s because of a financial perspective where the family wants to be able to provide for their child.
Down syndrome. (2016, October). Retrieved February 2020, from https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/down-syndrome.aspx
Klinefelter syndrome. (2019, September 21). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/klinefelter-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353949
Pregnancy after age 35. (2016, April). Retrieved from https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/pregnancy-after-age-35.aspx
Turner syndrome - Genetics Home Reference - NIH. (2020, February). Retrieved February 2020, from https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/turner-syndrome