Age & Pregnancy

[ticklemegreen]

I'm not sure where to post this at all. I don't need advice or anything. I'm just sort of curious if anyone has information on the subjects or even just opions. :-)

Do you think one of the contributing factors to the rise in autism is related to the fact that womem are having children older and older now a days? I don't just mean an older woman is more likely to have a child with a disability, but what if your mother had you at a later age, are you more likely to have a child with autism. (does that make sense?) I know, I personally started to have the baby bug in my late teens. I had several friends who felt the same way. I know biologically we're suppose to have them a lot earlier than most do. Our basic biology doesn't really match up with our current society norms.

[Addy's Mom]

I think the main thing that's led to an increase in autism diagnoses is the expanded classification of the spectrum and better recognition. Before, it was just classic autism, or Kanner's autism. And there is much more awareness of autism in general. Kids like my step son would have been brushed off as being mentally retarded 30 years ago and institutionalized. And higher functioning kids would just be labeled as having behavioral and/or learning disorders. Now, we know what it is and where they fit in.

There is definite risk to being an older mother for sure. But I think, relatively speaking, it's pretty minimal. I'm probably a lot older than you, but when I was growing up women did start having kids in their early 20s, but they often were still having them in their late 30s. Kind of like the Duggars but with 5 or 6 kids. And several of my friends were "change of life babies," who were born to mothers who thought they were done and couldn't get pregnant any longer.