if you have kids, how old were you when you had them?

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_facto...d_americans_say_women_should_start_at_25.html

It seems a good number of people think you should start having kids at 25 or younger.

 

[Kramodlog]

Brilliant. Just when you are building your situation in life. Might as well ask people aim low in life.

 

[Dog Moon]

I figure waiting until you're about 25 is a good age.

Let's see, my wife would have been 23 when she had gave birth to her first and currently only child. I would have been 27 at the time even though I wasn't actually there at the time. [Our daughter is actually her ex's daughter].

So if she suddenly got pregnant tonight, I would be 31 before having my first child of my own. Minimum... and I'm still not in a set spot in life, let alone how I was 10 years ago....

 

[The_Silversword]

I was 24, which is kinda kool cause we have the same chinese zodiac animal, the rat, although technically I would be a boar cause I was born before the Chinese New Year.

 

[Bullgrit]

I have two boys, now 12 and 9 years old. I was 33 when the first was born. I wish we had started a little earlier, like maybe 5 years or so.

Bullgrit

 

[Jan van Leyden]

My children are 14 and 12. I was 37 and 39 years old, my wife 33 and 35.

Births at 30+ years are pretty common in Germany, at least with academic parents. Without hard evidence at my disposal, personal observation tells me that parents are younger:

- in rural areas and/or
- if they don't have an academic degree.

Concerning the degrees, our university systems lets most people earn their degree in their mid-twenties.

 

[Bagpuss]

We had our first child at me being 30 and my wife 26. Personally I think if we had met sooner I would have liked to have kids sooner, but I don't know if we could have supported a family then. Ten years on we have the 10 year old and a 5 year old, and being over 40 I'm not as fit as I would like to be to do some of the activities I would like to do with my children. When the youngest gets to be an active teenager there is no way I'm going to be keeping up.

So I kind of agree with the survey, but also don't think that is practical for most people, financially speaking (unless of course you don't mind being dependent on the state).

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

My children are 14 and 12. I was 37 and 39 years old, my wife 33 and 35.

Births at 30+ years are pretty common in Germany, at least with academic parents. Without hard evidence at my disposal, personal observation tells me that parents are younger:

- in rural areas and/or
- if they don't have an academic degree.

Concerning the degrees, our university systems lets most people earn their degree in their mid-twenties.

Actually, that's one of the things they found. People with degrees tend to have kids at an older age.

 

[athos]

I was 31 when my daughter was born in 1998.

My parents were 23 and 21 when I was born. I think it is a generational thing, people used to have kids earlier in life, my generation tended to wait until we were in our 30's and a bit more set.

 

[Janx]

Actually, that's one of the things they found. People with degrees tend to have kids at an older age.

Logically speaking yes.

Graduate HS at 17/18

+4 years college is 21/22

Get a few years into your career and you're already across the 25 line (where Auto Insurance cuts in half, and you can afford a house on your salary)

Heck, for some people along that track, it's hard enough to even meet people to get to the point of starting a family.

For anybody on that track, having kids would seriously impair it. It is tactically best to avoid them until you're past college and in your first job decently.

For those not on that track, having kids early means being done with them by the time you're 40 or so. That's a nice perk. it also means being alive to see your grandkids (and possibly great grandkids).

One lament from a respected HS teacher I heard was that his dad had him late in life and didn't live to see his grand kid. In turn, this teacher died while his own son was in HS because he too didn't start a family until late in life.

In more personal and serious terms, my wife and I have spent the last year and considerable money to start a family, as we weren't interested in having kids until now. At 38/40 respectively, that delay has cost at least a third of my retirement fund, and if our current IVF is successful, I'll be 58 when the kid graduates HS. As my parents didn't cross the 60 line, you can imagine that we're cutting things close.

Unfortunately for women, stuff changes in their body after 30, and while waiting may be a decent economic decision initially, waiting too long creates new risks and expense. My wallet and I would have loved it if "just keep trying" was a viable option.

So, from my own experience, I expect people on the education track to wait. But they probably need to be cranking out any kids they want before 30 to avoid biological complications. Thats probably tough for some people (like me) who either don't know what they want, not in a position to get it, or change their mind later in life.