Motherhood Better at 50?

Oct. 24, 2006 — -- A lot of women struggle today with the question: career, family or both?

Can family life begin at age 50?

New research suggests that it's fine to put family aside in your 30s and 40s. Women older than 50 make good mothers, too.

Women older than 50 are both mentally and physically strong enough to be good mothers, suggests research being presented at the meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in New Orleans.

"The point that should be made is that age doesn't determine if one is a good mother," said Dr. Jacques Moritz, director of gynecology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

Moritz practice includes one of the largest groups of mothers older than 50 in the country.

Until now, some researchers suspected that the stress or physical limitations associated with aging could make parenting difficult for older women.

But more and more older women are now becoming first-time mothers with the help of medical and scientific advances, such as successful egg donation.

Doctors have used egg donation and other Assisted Reproductive Technology techniques to help women older than the age of natural menopause to become pregnant and deliver a healthy baby with success rates similar to those of younger women.

In January, a 66-year-old Italian mother celebrated her daughter's first birthday, and a 62-year-old California mother gave birth to her 12th child in February.

Although successful pregnancy is a possibility for older women, the pregnancy itself becomes more of a health risk to the mother-to-be as she gets older.

Pregnancies in women after age 35 are generally considered to be high risk.

But do these health risks make for a bad mother?