Are you a 40+ woman looking to get pregnant? Are you a 40 or 50+ man looking to impregnate a wife or significant other? Well, don’t lose hope. Maybe 40 really is the new 30? In fact, we predict that by 2030, a 40 to 46-year-old woman having a baby will be nothing extraordinary and fairly commonplace.
Recent data from the United States and the United Kingdom reveal a historic shift: The number of births to women over 40 now surpasses those to teenagers for the first time in recorded history.
“There’s a flip in the age distribution,” said Elizabeth Wildsmith, a family demographer and sociologist at Child Trends, a nonpartisan research group.
The decline in teen births alongside the increasing number of births to women in their 40s marks a reversal that began in the 1990s.
Key Statistics
- Since 1990, the birth rate for U.S. women between 40 and 44 years old has gone up by 127%, while those 45 and older witnessed a remarkable 450% increase. And from 1990 to 2023, there was a remarkable 71 percent rise in fertility rates for birthing parents aged 35 to 39. Even more striking is the increase among those aged 40 to 44 and those aged 45 and older, with a staggering growth of 127 percent.
- The percentage of total births from women aged 40 and older reached 4.1% in 2023 which showed an increase from the 1.2% recorded in 1990.
- The year 2023 marked the first time U.S. births for women aged 40 and older surpassed those for teenage girls.
These facts and statistics clearly demonstrate a positive trend in later-life fertility, highlighting advancements in reproductive health and options available today.
Would anyone have predicted this in the 1990s? Maybe…
Reasons Behind the Shift
Several factors contribute to this demographic change:
Delayed Childbearing: Women today are increasingly obtaining higher education and building their careers which results in them planning families later in life.
Advances in Fertility Treatments: The expanded availability of IVF along with other assisted reproductive technologies has increased the possibility of pregnancy for women beyond 40 years old.
Cultural Shifts: Societal attitudes towards parenting have shifted to ensure greater acceptance and support for women who choose to have children later in life.
Decline in Teen Births: The teen birth rate decreased by 78% since 1990 because of improved sexual education programs together with wider access to birth control and changing cultural expectations.
“For me, having a baby at this stage of life is such a thrill,” says Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, a nutrition expert and author of Feed the Belly: The Pregnant Mom’s Healthy Eating Guide, who recently gave birth to her fourth child at 50, through the use of IVF and an egg donor.
“I kind of still can’t believe that Romy is here and that she’s healthy,” she told theBUMP.com.
“And it’s really cool to see my 13-year-old son fall in love with her, as well as my other two daughters. I thought I’d feel self-conscious that people would look at me and think I was the ‘old’ mom, but really I’m the confident mom who’s already experienced all the baby milestones. This time, I’m savoring all of it—every little phase and giggle.”
WARNING: There are still fertility and health considerations for the 40+
- Women at age 40 experience a 5% chance of pregnancy per menstrual cycle, which contrasts with the 25% rate observed in their 20s.
- The chance of miscarriage rises with age to reach approximately 27–40% by the time a woman reaches 40 years old.
- As women get older, the risk of genetic mutations in their eggs increases, which leads to a greater chance of requiring C-sections and developing gestational diabetes and chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy.
HOWEVER, research shows that children of older mothers tend to enjoy better early childhood health and developmental outcomes due to greater parental stability and resources, as well as dedicated attention.
Just out of curiosity, what about male fertility?
OB/GYN Kirtly Jones, MD, told University of Utah Health:
Now, we haven’t talked about sperm yet, but please, let me take that opportunity. We know that men, as they get older, have abnormal sperm too. So, aging and sperm aren’t good for sperm and there are diseases that are more common as men age. So sperm quality goes down with age, but usually not dramatically until men are a little bit older into their late 40s, 50s, and 60s. So, there is that issue. That’s the chromosomal issue that people are worried about.
Clearly women as they get older have an older body. They have more hypertension. They may have more diabetes. They have issues that make them more likely to have complications in pregnancy. All of those go up with age, but mostly those things you can get around with a good doctor and a good hospital.
PREDICTION: There you have it! By 2030, it will be completely normal for women—and couples in general—in their 40s to have babies.