Mature Motherhood And Life Insurance

Having babies later:
As average life expectancy increases many women are choosing to have children later. Similarly many women, who start new relationships in middle age, wish to have children with their new partner.

It could be seen as common sense for women to develop a career or relationship before choosing to dedicate their lives to children, but some experts argue that the increasing age of a woman’s first pregnancy is not necessarily a good thing.

How IVF changes things:
Let’s look at the example of Rajo Devi Lohan, who had her first child, Naveen at the age of 70. Baby Naveen was born at a local hospital in India after her parents, Rajo and Baba underwent IVF treatment. They had been trying to conceive since they had married, aged just 15 and 17 respectively. Ultimately, like many older parents, the Lohans had to rely on egg donation to get their happy bundle. This is a common, though controversial occurrence with older mums.

Although it varies from woman to woman, fertility tends to decrease rapidly after the age of 35 and in UK the average age for a woman to reach the menopause is 52. Though the menopause marks an end of ovulation for a woman it is still possible for her to fall pregnant after the menopause. As such it’s recommended that she carry on using contraception for two years after her last period if under 50 and for one year if she’s over 50. After this time many would-be mums will need to turn to IVF treatment.

The big debate:
Before the birth of Baby Naveen the title of ‘World’s Oldest Mother’ belonged to Maria Carmen del Bousada. Maria, who was 66 years old when her twin sons were born, admitted to lying about her age to get fertility treatment in the US.

Maria herself had justified she would live long enough to raise a child as her mother had lived to the age of 101. Sadly she died of cancer a few months after her sons were born, fanning the flames of the debate about whether older women should be allowed to undergo fertility treatment.

For and against:
The arguments in favour of mature mothers suggest that women who have children later in life are just as mentally and physically capable of being good mothers as younger women. Others support the notion that older mothers are able to offer a type of parental support that younger mothers can’t. Since they have had time to build a career experts argue that they are potentially more financially secure than young mums.

But then there are the risks. Beyond a woman’s actual capacity to conceive after the age of 50, birth and indeed motherhood itself both come with many potential problems. There tends to be an increased rate of intervention in labour for older women, which can lead to more problems for the baby. Also older mothers are more prone to suffer from high blood pressure, complications during delivery (such as prolonged labour and the need for assisted delivery or Caesarean section) and even miscarriage. And above all there’s the fact that an older woman has less chance of being there for her child as he or she grows up.

Protecting your family:
One thing anyone thinking of having children later in life should consider is life insurance. Looking at Maria’s tragic experience it’s clear that nothing can be assumed when it comes to being there for your children. Life cover protects a family financially in the event of the death of a parent and means funds can be made available for loved ones, sometimes even in the event of a terminal illness.

Something many people don’t realise that the older you start your policy the higher your premiums will be. So if you’re planning on starting a family later in life it may be worth looking into insurance sooner rather than later.

The privilege of having a baby is arguably something that everyone should be entitled to. But ultimately, as science continues to progress and women fall pregnant later and later, this is a hot potato that’s not going to go away in a hurry.

By: Greenbee PR

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Greenbee offers a range of insurance services selected by the John Lewis Partnership. These include: over 50 life insurance, home insurance, car, travel, pet, wedding, event, life and buildings and contents insurance products. Customers can visit www.greenbee.com for further information. Greenbee PR Josie Anderson greenbeepr@googlemail.com