{"id":39536,"date":"2025-06-23T12:58:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T10:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-becoming-a-mother-after-40\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T15:49:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T13:49:01","slug":"advantages-and-disadvantages-of-becoming-a-mother-after-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-becoming-a-mother-after-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a mother after 40"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No fertility expert would claim that\u00a0<strong>becoming a mother after 40<\/strong>\u00a0is the best time to do it. That is far from being the case. The general recommendation is for women to enter into motherhood\u00a0<strong>before the age of 35<\/strong>. After this age, egg quality declines considerably.<\/p>\n<p>Recent data shows that\u00a0<strong>the number of women having children after the age of 40 has tripled<\/strong>. It is becoming obvious that females, whether it be for social, financial or professional reasons, are entering into motherhood at an increasingly later age and many times have to turn to assisted reproduction techniques for assistance (artificial insemination, in vitro fertilisation, egg donation, etc.).<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Tabla de contenidos<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #3f3f3f;color:#3f3f3f\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #3f3f3f;color:#3f3f3f\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-becoming-a-mother-after-40\/#Why_do_women_postpone_motherhood\" >Why do women postpone motherhood?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-becoming-a-mother-after-40\/#Advantages_of_becoming_a_mother_after_40\" >Advantages of becoming a mother after 40<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_do_women_postpone_motherhood\"><\/span><strong>Why do women postpone motherhood?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Are there advantages? Or only disadvantages?\u00a0To respond to these questions we are fortunate to have\u00a0<strong>the collaboration of Eva Mar\u00eda Bernal, mother of 3 children<\/strong>, Rodrigo, Mart\u00edn and Aitana, all conceived through assisted reproduction. Her first child was born when Eva was 39, and the other two, twins, when she was 44. Eva also founded the blog \u2018Creando una familia\u2019 and the webpage named after her, where she provides emotional and strategic support to individuals undergoing assisted reproduction treatment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What do you believe are the main reasons why women are waiting longer to become mothers?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A: In my opinion, as women we want to be\u00a0<strong>in control of our present and our future<\/strong>\u00a0more than ever.\u00a0Having children is wonderful, but it\u2019s such a huge change in a person\u2019s life. Nowadays we have the ability to decide whether we want it and when we want it, and in the majority of cases parenthood is delayed.\u00a0In addition to this, we are dealing with a financial crisis and a false sense of eternal youth (at least in terms of eggs), and this is also a problem when it comes to our fertility.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Does postponing motherhood have more advantages or disadvantages?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A: I think it has many advantages, and the main one is the sense of awareness we have when entering into motherhood and our mind-set towards our children. This doesn\u2019t mean that we will never feel flustered, because that almost goes hand-in-hand with raising kids, but\u00a0<strong>we are more prepared to manage our moods and emotions<\/strong>. The biggest disadvantages include difficulties getting pregnant, increased risks during pregnancy and, in particular, the risk of premature delivery.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Data on delayed motherhood<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To take a closer look at the causes of this phenomenon, we would like to reference a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/humrep.oxfordjournals.org\/content\/early\/2012\/02\/14\/humrep.des007.abstract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study published in 2012<\/a>\u00a0in the prestigious scientific journal \u201cHuman Reproduction\u201d, in which several conclusions were discussed about how women and couples who enter into parenthood at an advanced age feel.\u00a0<strong>The study was carried out on 46 couples and 15 single mothers\u00a0<\/strong>who received\u00a0<a title=\"https:\/\/fertilityclinicspain.com\/in-vitro-fertilisation-icsi-spain\/\" href=\"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/in-vitro-fertilisation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in Vitro Fertilisation<\/a>\u00a0treatment when the female was already to 40 years of age or older.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Advantages_of_becoming_a_mother_after_40\"><\/span>Advantages of becoming a mother after 40<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The final conclusion is clear:\u00a0<strong>the advantages outweigh the disadvantages<\/strong>, both at the personal and family level. The study cited the following advantages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Career stability<\/strong>: this is normally accompanied by financial security and greater flexibility in terms of working hours so that you can take care of your children.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Better emotional preparation<\/strong>:\u00a0a committed and more stable relationship, as well as a positive outlook on family life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In terms of disadvantages: having to turn to assisted reproduction treatment in order to conceive, difficulties having more than one child when the mother was a\u00a0<strong>first time mother at 40<\/strong>\u00a0and a lack of energy. The majority of people know that<strong>\u00a0our energy levels at the age of 40 are evidently not the same as when we were 20 years old<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our experience at URE Centro Gutenberg<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/discover-ure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">URE Centro Gutenberg<\/a>\u00a0we have also noticed a considerable increase in the number of women\u00a0<strong>becoming a mother after 40<\/strong>\u00a0or older: the number of in Vitro Fertilisation cycles, with own eggs, in women between the ages of 40 and 44 has\u00a0<strong>risen by 11% in just the last five years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The chances that these patients will be able to get pregnant, though limited, are quite acceptable. Precisely, results from 2014 reveal an improvement, and\u00a0<strong>the chances of getting pregnant, per treatment cycle, are around 30%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>We believe that new medical protocols, together with the equipment and new techniques used in the IVF laboratory, are responsible for\u00a0<strong>these success rates which we hope to improve on<\/strong>\u00a0in the years to come.<\/p>\n<p>To sum up, women who are 40 or older shouldn\u2019t give up on becoming mothers using their own eggs,\u00a0<strong>but they shouldn\u2019t delay motherhood any longer, either<\/strong>. If after six months of trying to conceive naturally it hasn\u2019t happened, it\u2019s advisable to book your\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first appointment with a specialist in reproductive medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No fertility expert would claim that\u00a0becoming a mother after 40\u00a0is the best time to do it. That is far from being the case. The general recommendation is for women to enter into motherhood\u00a0before the age of 35. After this age, egg quality declines considerably. Recent data shows that\u00a0the number of women having children after the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[497,501],"tags":[559,528,512,504,529,543,550,542,517,519,531,518,508,540,502,520,513,503,541,514,510,609,533,506,578,535,515,516,505,530],"class_list":["post-39536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fertility-problems","category-lifestyle-and-fertility-en","tag-age","tag-assisted-reproduction","tag-assisted-reproduction-clinic-in-malaga","tag-assisted-reproduction-techniques","tag-causes-of-infertility","tag-centro-gutenberg-en","tag-centro-gutenberg-malaga-en","tag-clinic-gutenberg-en","tag-family","tag-female-fertility","tag-fertility","tag-fertility-clinic","tag-fertility-clinic-in-malaga","tag-fertility-preservation","tag-fertility-treatments","tag-fertility-treatments-in-algeciras","tag-fertility-treatments-in-malaga","tag-in-vitro-fertilisation","tag-infertility","tag-ivf","tag-ivf-clinic-in-malaga","tag-mother-at-40","tag-pre-implantation-genetic-diagnosis","tag-pregnancy","tag-pregnancy-complications","tag-reproduction-unit-gutenberg-centre","tag-reproductive-treatments","tag-ure-en","tag-ure-centro-gutenberg-en","tag-vitrification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39537,"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536\/revisions\/39537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urecentrogutenberg.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}