I am considering another child at 44-45 and I am really scared of birth defects. Has anyone gotten pregnant at that age?

I am not worried about that stuff. Pregnant at 42 and expecting twins in Nov. 09.

miriam

I am not over 40 yet, but anecdotally . . . I have several friends that have had children in their 40's and not one of them has had a child with an issue.

The risks go up after 40, but the majority of people do have healthy infants.

I also wanted to mention that medical knowledge doubles every 10 years or less. It is so easy to do screenings anymore and they are par for the course after a certain age. You can easily determine early in the pregnancy if there are any significant issues of which to be concerned.

I know of 2 experiences on each side of my family.. my g'mother had her youngest (my aunt) at 45; and she is mentally retarded.

An aunt had her first (and only) at 44, perfectly healthy.

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Echoing what Heather said, especially in the 40's their triple screen test would be helpful, although then you'd have to make a decision to continue or terminate the pregnancy (which is why I didn't do the test..).

Just to throw it out there, ever thought about adoption?

Hi there, I am 44 [turning 45 this year] and found myself to be unexpectantly pregnant! Which was a lovely surprise, but worried me a LOT in regards to my age and the high risk of Chromosomal abnormalities associated with being pregnant at this age.

I had numerous scans in the early stages, for dating etc, because I seriously HAD NO IDEA that I was pregnant, so I had no idea how far along I was.

I decided to skip the nucal transparency test and go straight for the CVS testing in the 11th week of my pregnancy. We had excellent results and have been reassured that all is well.

Now that we have had the testing, I have really settled in to enjoying the pregnancy and I feel fantastic!!

I don't feel any more tired than I did with my previous pregnancies. If anything, due to losing so much weight with my lapband, I feel better in some ways. I am lighter, more healthy and have more energy than previous pregnancies.

I have had a child every decade of my fertile life so far and I don't feel that bearing a child at this age [so far] is more difficult or taxing. My other daughters are 26 24 and 13.

As for me I am 34 but will be 35 for the baby's due date thus they call me 'of advanced maternal age'.

People in 30's and 40's have children all the time but the risks do greatly go up for many different diagnoses. I work in Occupational Therapy and have worked with many pedicatrics who have had very difficult lives.....as have the parents dealing with the disabilities.

My risks were even higher because my sister had died of spina bifida when she was 4 weeks old and when I got pregnant I was taking a medication that increases your risks for spina bifida.

I am very thankful to God that through all the ultrasounds (I've had 10 during this pregnancy) they have not found any serious abnormalities........I am due for a c-section in 6 days because of a fibroid tumor but all looks well with baby.

So, no I'm not over 40 but, I am still in that age range they consider advanced. I think each person has to pray about it, decide if something is wrong with your child are you willing to take care of him/her. Disabled children can be a huge joy in your life (I know they are in mine working with them in my job) but, they are a ton of work, emotional stress, financial strain, ect...........but, like I said well worth it.

I just hate how many times in the beginning of my pregnancy that the OB asked me if I want to abort if something is wrong. I finally said nothing will ever be so wrong that I would abort, so don't ask me again...........and he didn't.

I wish you the best!

That's why I opted out of all the tests, but also due to my age I figured I am not high risk for anything, and I don't want to run into the apparently common false-positives and worry and have to go out of town for further testing, etc.. and ultimately, I would not have aborted, so it didn't matter.

I think if I was in any kind of 'risk' like older age, I would have considered it, but again ultimately I wouldn't abort, so not sure why I would care.. unless to prepare i guess.

Thanks everyone. I am 42 on 5/28. If I do have another child it most likely will be between 44-45 as that is the timeline we have. I have had 2 great pregnancies, 17 and 8 years old now. I would have to have a tubal ligation reversal however they san it is up to 90% success rate to get pregnant. My main concern would be birth defects. Thanks again.

I will be 40 in July. My husband and I are currently trying to have a baby. Our baby girl turned 1 on May 29th. When I was pregnant with my daughter some of my tests came back with not so good results and they told me that I had a 1 in 13 chance of having a baby with down's. I had them do an ultrasound but declined the amnio because I heard that it could cause complications and everything seemed to be going good, no indications that the baby was having problems. I also gave it to God and on May 29th, 2008 I gave birth to a healthy, beautiful little girl. I am not worried about having another baby but this will be my last pregnancy (I have an 18 yr. old son and my baby girl).

This is heavy on my mind I am 39 and wouldn't mind having a child for my now hubby but even with weight loss my cycles have not returned to normal might have to seek help due to having PCOS. This post was encouraging!

I myself am not in my 40's, but I will share as well. My cousin and his wife are both 43. They got pregnant no problems first time at age 39 and had a healthy boy. Last 2 years following that birth, they have had 3 miscarriages and 1 sucessful pregancy. Their 2nd child has mild case of Autism called Asperger's syndrome, and was born with a deformed limb. Since they knew that no birth defect would cause them to terminate, they had no extra pregnancy screening, but they did catch the deformed limb in a few ultrasounds.

I did several years working in a genetic counselor's office. Having a baby over the age of about 38 raises your chances of birth defects higher than that of having a child with a first cousin, up to around 11% of all sucessful births. I would advise you to keep a few things in mind. That 11% figure is only a measure of all sucessful births. Ones that end in termination or miscarriage may make the number even higher. However, this is the year 2009. Many of the statisics we have are the results of the 1970's thru the 1990's when we didn't know as much about carrying for women of advanced maternal age, nutrition, genetic screening, fertility, medical risk factors, etc.

If you are in good health, not on high-risk medications, and seek out early, high-rate care for yourself and baby, then I think you'll have good luck.