Motherhood gets delayed

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As Angus Watson, a happy, personable little guy, goes about the daily thrills and spills of exploring his Calgary home, his mom keeps a close eye on him, clearly delighted by her active first-born.

The chubby-cheeked 18-month-old came into the world Aug. 27, 2007 -- one of 16,543 babies born in Calgary hospitals between March 31, 2007, and April 1, 2008.

What's remarkable is that, like Angus, nearly 21% of those babies -- one in five --were delivered by a mother who was older than 35, according to figures from Alberta Health Services.

Fran Watson gave birth to Angus when she was 43, having waited 20 years to find the right partner, get married and then have a child.

"What I feel as a mom who waited a long time is 'My God, I'm happy,'" said the longtime publicist. "And what can possibly be wrong with that wonderful feeling?"

She is part of a larger societal trend happening in Canada and other industrialized countries. The proportion of women older than 35 giving birth in Canada has more than tripled from 5% in 1982 to about 18% in recent years, according to a report released Jan. 29 by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The issue of older mothers was thrust into the spotlight earlier this month by the birth of twin boys to 60-year-old Ranjit Hayer in Calgary.

While bearing children in one's seventh decade with the help of reproductive technology obtained in India may be an extreme example, late-blooming mothers now appear to be the new normal.

And, like Hayer, who tried for decades to bear children, many older mothers strongly defend their choice, despite the considerable risks.

The problems with waiting to have children are many. Women 35 and up are less fertile, have a greater risk of miscarriage or stillbirth and more complications in pregnancy such as diabetes and high blood pressure, said Dr. Jeffrey Roberts, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine in Vancouver.

Pregnant women who are older than 40 are automatically considered high risk, and the maternal complications dramatically increase once you pass the age of 50, Roberts added.

"Women as they approach 45 and beyond have almost a 75% risk of miscarriage," he said, "and the risk of Down syndrome becomes more than one in 100."

Mothers older than 40 also have a higher chance of producing more eggs at once, thereby increasing their odds of having preterm twins. Low birth weight babies themselves can have a host of health problems.

Helen Vanderburg was willing to take those risks.

A fitness professional in Calgary, Vanderburg said she delayed having children mostly because she wasn't in a committed relationship until she was older; building her career played a secondary role.

After meeting and marrying Terry Kane, a physical therapist, their first child, Kiah, was conceived naturally. They desperately wanted a second, so much so that Vanderburg went through five years of in vitro fertilization treatments at the Regional Fertility Program in Calgary.



She guesses it cost about $20,000. "I think I tried to erase the memory."

In the last round, she had three embryos implanted, but only one developed. She underwent a full complement of testing to rule out any genetic abnormalities and, at 45, gave birth to daughter, Sage. At 50, she still sees herself as young.

"Women in their 40s and beyond are much fitter, healthier and stronger than the generations before us. In every physical way, they are young," she said, before neatly summarizing the conundrum she and other older mothers face.

"Older woman can have babies because they're fit and healthy, but the reproductive system --and that's the big lecture I got from the Regional Fertility Clinic -- can't be changed with diet and exercise."

Being in top shape lets Vanderburg keep up with her girls, now 10 and 4, but she admits she initially wondered how Ranjit Hayer could do it at 60.

"I was seeing myself and thinking 'OK, add 10 years and could I run after toddlers, especially two boys?' "

But she feels motherhood is intensely personal; each woman has her own reasons about if and why she has children and when.

"The one thing I always remind myself is I don't know the person's story, so who am I to place judgment?"

Aradhana Parmar says she believes it is a woman's right to have babies when she chooses, at any age.

Parmar, an associate professor of communication and culture at the University of Calgary who teaches women's studies and development studies, says a little perspective is necessary.

"The reason for this (trend) is that new technologies are available in an era when women are professionals and they spend lots of time focusing on their careers and education, so by the time they are ready to settle down they are in their 30s."

At the same time, she says, our life span has greatly improved, so that parents will be around longer to care for late-born children.

"Logically, it makes absolute sense to me to have children whenever it is convenient to them," Parmar said.

"If you can raise a child, give them lots of love and affection and facilities, and even you're 50 but healthy, why not?"

A recent report from Statistics Canada may support her argument.

Published in September, it looked at the growing trend of first-time mothers who were older than 35 and concluded that the children of older moms are generally as healthy as those born to younger women.

The study found that while they are at greater risk of birth defects, once the children of moms over 35 are born, their health, behaviour and cognitive outcomes up to the age of five were nearly the same as the children of mothers 25 to 29.

Additional information:

India's Health&Lifestyle Website. Home Remedies, Pregnancy
Indiadiets, Health Tools and calculators; due date calculator
Pregnancy diet india archive and pr agency india sites, Best
What will be Diet while Pregnancy .? - Yahoo! Answers India
Online Health and Lifestyle Magazine
Jolie's 'special pregnancy diet '
Womb for Rent: Surrogate Mothers in India
The Pregnancy Diet : Eileen Behan, M. D. Eileen Behan: Books
Pregnancy Diet India - a comprehensive view - Wellsphere
The Pregnancy Diet - Eileen Behan, M. D. Eileen Behan, Paperback

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