You learn something new every day. The other benefit of women today who wait to have kids till later in life is the woman is more lifely to be stable, prepared and most likely intended on the pregnancy.

The only downside of waiting till 40's and 50's is the greater chance of the child being born with down syndrome. yikes.. Kind of a catch twenty two there.

if it has less to do with giving birth in their 40s or 50s and more to do with running around trying to keep up with a young child when you're middle aged! I've always heard that children keep you young! Guess they were right!

I got confused by the statement that these women lived after 50 but isn't the average life span for a woman around 80 now. So I don't think this has much to do with our time.

Interesting quandry... You have children later in life and YOU live longer. You have children when you (the mom) is under 25 and THEY live longer.

In the fall of 2006, University of Chicago released the findings of their study that said children of moms who were under 25 years old when they gave birth were almost twice as likely as their peers to live to be over 100.

Some of you aren't reading carefully. People with the ability to have children later in life live longer. It isn't having the baby that does it, it is your genetic make-up that allows late fertility and longer life.
Using hormones and in-vitro fertilization to have a baby in your 40's or 50's is NOT going to help you live longer.
If you are naturally ABLE to have babies at that age, then you will probably live longer because something about your genes likely promotes both phenomena. The longer life will result even if you don't actually give birth to a baby late in life.

I believe we're all able to read "carefully" and understand just fine. Some of us are having a little fun with the article, that's all. I would venture to guess that anyone with the ability to post something on this thread has had at least one biology class, so light up huh? We get it.

No kid wants a mom or dad that is 50 or 60 years old.

Hey Anonymous -
How do you know???

your right, no baby goat wants a mom or dad at that age; but a child will love a father or mother at whatever age they are.

Haha! I just have to laugh at Anonymous at 10:46 and then go ask my kids to laugh with me.

I had six kids. Three of them were born to me when I was 38, 40, and 42 years of age. I am 58 now. Poor, poor kids! The interesting thing is that when I was younger I was told that I couldn't have kids.

I have only known a couple women who had children later like I did and I have always wondered if there were no birth control, how many other women would have later children. (I am just now going through menopause, and it is a snap.)

I wonder what John the Baptist thought of his mother Elizabeth and how poor Isaac coped with Abraham and Sarah.

Really, there are advantages to both younger and older parents. But since there is a choice these days, perhaps there are unique characteristics to be found in the older parents who choose to "have their quiver full." Maybe they have strong faith.

President Benson's wife Flora had a father who had her when he was 76. He is my hero. What faith. And what a daughter!