Pregnancy Over 40 is Common—and Unlikely Medical advances over
recent decades have redrawn the biological boundary limiting a
woman’s ability to conceive and bear children. These advances
have come with controversy, including worry about the increased
health risks posed by advanced maternal age, and the concern
that people who become parents in their sixties and even beyond
may not live to raise their children. This debate dates back to
at least 1997, when a 63-year-old California woman gave birth
following three years of fertility treatments. It has been
reignited by more recent cases—including the case of an Indian
woman who gave her age as 70 when she delivered a premature set
of twins in 2008, and a Spanish woman who gave birth to twins in
2007 and died two years later at the age of 69. These cases of
very advanced maternal age might overshadow a trend affecting a
much larger group of women. Middle-aged motherhood has become
more mainstream. Over the last 20 years, the number of women
having babies at 40