The number of births to women aged over 50 is soaring. But what’s the real story behind the rise? Three mothers talk about the joy of finally having a baby long after it would once have been possible
To celebrate reaching half a century, Gemma Barnes wrote a list of the 50 things she hoped to achieve. Topping it was an ambition that a few years ago would have seemed absurd: she wanted to have a baby. But two years on, Barnes is cuddling her eight-month-old daughter, and while that means most of the other 49 ambitions will have to wait, she is delighted to be a mother.
Barnes’s situation is unusual, but she is certainly not alone. In June data published by the Office for National Statistics showed the number of births to 50-plus women has quadrupled over the last two decades, up from 55 in 2001 to 238 in 2016. During that period there were 1,859 births in the UK to women over 50, and 153 to women over 55. Flying the flag for older motherhood have been a host of celebrities, most recently actor Brigitte Nielsen who was 54 when her fifth child, a daughter named Frida, arrived this summer. US singer Janet Jackson gave birth in January, aged 50, to son Eissa. Perhaps most visible of all has been US Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down in 2004. She gave birth earlier this year, also aged 50, and was photographed soon afterwards, protesting against Trump’s immigration policies while holding newborn Maile on her lap.
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