Poll: How young were your parents when they...

[yoyo13rom]

Ok, for my 1k post, I will make yet again a lame topic(I just feel like it)!

I like polls and my mom's birthday was a few days ago, so that got me thinking:
Dude, I've got a pretty old mother(in comparison to my age at least)! She gave birth to me when she was, like 39...
And dad was 34...

That's like a rather old age to start raising a child... Anyway I love my folks and the way they raised me.

So I ask you guys and girls:
How old was your mom, when she gave birth to you?(see poll)
I chose to ask about the mother, because the dad might not always be known if you know what I mean.(Hope I didn't offend anyone here)
I'm not trying to call your mother old or a slut(if she was younger), I'm just curious what the average age for child making is(as in made and raised, not ... made and ... you know...)

And as follow-up questions:
When/At what age should a couple have a baby?.
And because I've met many people that told me that their parents didn't properly raise them because of how young they were at the moment:
Do you feel you were raised right?
Do you think things would have been a lot different if your parents "made" you at an older age?

 

[Jedoro]

-She was 20, then turned 21 ten days later
-When they're ready, end of story
-I wasn't really raised, since my dad left when I was ten and my mom had to work overtime to support us, but I guess the fundamentals I got helped me turn out okay
-Yeah, I wouldn't have grown up with the guy who has been and still is my best friend since probably the 1st grade

 

[nunqual]

My mother was 38 or 39. My father was 39. I don't think there's an age where you should have a baby, it's all about capability, and age does not necessarily show that. I feel I was raised very well, and I experience a wonderful childhood. Maybe their experience with my sister, who was born 3 years before me, helped with that. If my parents had made me in their 40s (which is impossible because my father got a vasectomy at 40) I suppose my childhood wouldn't have been as active. My sister would be a lot older than me, and that would be weird, I suppose.

 

[yoyo13rom]

Hmm... it seems that people are coming here just for the poll.
Eh, how can blame them, everybody loves polls!

 

[Marter]

My mother was 28.
I would say after 25.
Not really, but not due to them being too young.
Nope.

 

[Julianking93]

She was 24 or 25 when she had me

Whenever they feel ready. I for one won't be having any before 30

Nope. Mum and dad both took care of me.

Um....Yeah kinda. I think I've turned out alright.

Perhaps but only on them rather than me. They would have been a bit more ready and emotionally stable for me then, but everything seems okay with them now.....well kinda. Not really actually. But still....

 

[Kermi]

For the record, I'm 27 and my wife is 25.

My mother got married at 19, I was born when she was 21. My father was about 32 at the time.

They got divorced when I was 2. All things considered, I think they did a good job of raising me even if I was only seeing my dad on alternate weekends and during summer holidays for most of my life. I don't think my mother was too young (or my father too old), except in that my parents might have stayed together if they were closer together in age... and my father could keep his dick in his pants.

I think in the modern day, late 20's is acceptable, even into the early 30's. It feels like 21 is too young these days, unless the couple has financial security.

I don't want children for a myriad of reasons, but one of the foremost amongst them is financial security. I don't feel like I could raise a child just on my income, and my wife hasn't been able to work for a couple of years - of course she'd likely stay home with the kid until it was school age anyway.

Interestingly I attended a leadership conference/lunch today, an opportunity to mingle with leaders of my industry (insurance). A lot of the older guys agreed most young people today want to hold off on having kids until they're secure financially - but that threshold gets pushed back further and further as we incorporate more things into our everyday lives that were considered luxuries (or didn't exist at all) 30-50 years ago.

 

[JohanGasMask]

My mom was 19 when she gave birth to me and my dad was 21. So i have pretty young parents.

 

[Wutaiflea]

My Mum (and Dad) turned 41 the year I was born.

My Mum always says I was an "afterthought", although my preferred way of telling the story is to point out that I'm actually a product of Bacardi.
After going to a party and getting outrageously drunk, my Dad was too pissed to go out and buy more condoms and my Mum, in her infinite wisdom said "meh, I'm safe".

She wasn't.

I think I had a relatively good childhood. I benefited a lot from having older parents and an older brother and sister (14 and 13 year age gap to me respectively) as it effectively gave me the best of both worlds.

Sadly, I have also suffered the pitfalls of older parents- my Dad died when I was 10. Although obviously, anyone can die at any time, the older your parents are, the higher the likelihood of it happening.

Personally, I think it's hard to say what is or isn't a good age to have children. It really depends on the parents and where they are in their life rather than how old they are.
I don't believe my situation was ideal, nor that of my best friend, who had a child at 19, but both my parents, and my friend and her husband, are excellent and successful parents.

The last question really isn't relevant to me. My Mum was only a few years away from the menopause so if she'd been any older, I wouldn't be here

 

[nunqual]

Here's a funny story about young parents, by the way. And as a disclaimer I do not think that age matters in parenting. I had a friend in school named... Susy. Susy's mother was the character ed/guidance councilor (I always despised her mom, character ed is a useless subject, telling us how to behave). Susy's mother had Susy when she was 17. I find it funny how the woman who was telling us to be abstinent and make good life choices had her child at age 17, with a man who was 21.

 

[reg42]

She was 32 if I did my maths correctly.

 

[Artina89]

My mom was 25 and my dad was 24 when I was born. I was raised just fine. Where I grew up there is a fairly high crime rate but I kept my head down, (with a few exceptions when I got detention because I had a bad habit of sassing the teachers) got good grades and am currently at university studying for a Biochemistry degree, and I believe that at least part of that was because my parents were willing to listen to any problems I had and encouraged me to follow my interests. As long as you are mature enough, and willing to put your childs needs before your own, then you are capable of being a good parent regardless of whether you are in your early 20's or in your 40's in my opinion.

 

[Withall]

My mom were fairly young-ish (27), according to her. God knows she wasn't mature enough for motherhood. >_>

 

[yoyo13rom]

My mother was 38 or 39. My father was 39. I don't think there's an age where you should have a baby, it's all about capability, and age does not necessarily show that. I feel I was raised very well, and I experience a wonderful childhood. Maybe their experience with my sister, who was born 3 years before me, helped with that. If my parents had made me in their 40s (which is impossible because my father got a vasectomy at 40) I suppose my childhood wouldn't have been as active. My sister would be a lot older than me, and that would be weird, I suppose.

I met people that have sisters that are 20 years younger than they are, and sister that are 20 years older, so I'm not so sure if a 3+ year difference in age between siblings is a weird thing.

Also I agree that sometimes it's better to wait to be financially capable, time-wise available, and mature enough to have a child. But it always bugged me that waiting a little bit to much might make you miss the opportunity. E.g: Menopause and certain surgical intervention(my mom couldn't have any more kids after me because of some complications. That's why I ended up being an only child).

Oh, and also forgot: WOW! I only figured my folks took their time. I mean I know a lot of people that rushed things and then had problems along the way.

Actually I think the thing that bothers me the most about my parents being older than average ones, is that I'm going to have to start helping them financially, pretty soon enough, considering they'll retire before I finish University.(it's not that I don't want to, it's that I fear I'm not capable of supporting myself and them at the same time. Al least they were nice enough to buy me an apartment and a few real estates).

 

[yoyo13rom]

Here's a funny story about young parents, by the way. And as a disclaimer I do not think that age matters in parenting. I had a friend in school named... Susy. Susy's mother was the character ed/guidance councilor (I always despised her mom, character ed is a useless subject, telling us how to behave). Susy's mother had Susy when she was 17. I find it funny how the woman who was telling us to be abstinent and make good life choices had her child at age 17, with a man who was 21.

Well probably she was trying to warn others of her mistake.
Nah, probably not. I bet my money that every guidance councilor is obligated to say those things.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

late 20's, but I don't know exactly how old. I was the first, though.

 

[Deadlock Radium]

She was almost 19 I think.

 

[GodofDisaster]

My Mum was 22 when she had me, I didn't feel that there was anything wrong with this as she was already married, had a job and was completely ready for a child. (At least that's what she told me, but meh I turned out just fine)

She had three more children later, I was born in 1992, the second was born in 1994 (Boy), the third was born in 1997 (Girl) and the fourth and final child was born in the year 2000. Making him an millenium baby.

Also my Dad is a year older than my Mum, making him 23 when I was born.

 

[PandyBear]

My mum and dad had my sister at 21 and 25 respectively. i popped out 18 years later
i r beautiful mistake n_n!

 

[CJMacM]

My mother was 38, and my father was 3 weeks away from 41. I'm the youngest of 6 kids though. I think they raised me pretty well