This time, it's a warm congratulations to 49-year-old actress Laura Linney who has welcomed a baby son, her first child with husband Mark Schauer. The couple married in 2009 when Linney was 45. Falling pregnant in your forties - let alone 49 - is exceedingly rare.
Having a baby later in life does increase your risk of complications like preterm birth, C-section, gestational diabetes, and high blood pressure, but many people have healthy babies and pregnancies after 40.
Then there's Hilary Swank, Janet Jackson, Halle Berry, Laura Linney et al, all who've had babies in their very late forties or early fifties. Tana Ramsay and Victoria Coren Mitchell's pregnancies barely made headlines. A 50-year-old new mum is a freak event no more.
The actress quietly welcomed son Bennet back in January 2014 — at the age of 49. Two years later, she shared the reason for keeping her pregnancy under wraps. "Well, I was an older mother-to-be, and it had taken me a very long time to have a child," she told Kelly Ripa.
Janet Jackson Is Pregnant at 49-Years-Old, But What Are The Risks?
Did Gwen Stefani have a baby at 45?
At 44, Gwen Stefani gave birth to her third child, Apollo.
Stefani, now 53, had two other sons, Kingston and Zuma, when she welcomed her youngest son, Apollo, in 2014. "But having children, it's really interesting to watch them and have the responsibility of trying to make them good people.
The data collected reconfirm that pregnancies in older women are infrequent and must be considered as high risk. The gynecologist should counsel the patient realistically as to her chances of becoming pregnant after age 48.
According to ACOG, your chance of getting pregnant naturally after 45 is unlikely. That's not to say it's impossible, but assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are almost always necessary, with IVF being the most common.
While it's not impossible to become pregnant naturally at 50, it is very rare. Women are born with all of the eggs they will ever have. As you get older, you have fewer eggs, and they are more likely to have abnormalities. Most women who get pregnant after 50 use donor eggs.
What is the oldest age a woman can get pregnant naturally?
A woman's peak reproductive years are between the late teens and late 20s. By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline. This decline happens faster once you reach your mid-30s. By 45, fertility has declined so much that getting pregnant naturally is unlikely.
Brigitte Nielsen knows what you're thinking. At age 60, she's far too old to be a mom to a 5-year old. “Half the world was saying that when I got pregnant at 55 — including my four older sons,” says Nielsen, who gave birth to her daughter Frida, 5, when she was 55.
Celebrity Dads Who Welcomed Babies in Their 70s: Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, More. Some of Hollywood's biggest stars welcomed children later in life. Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, David Foster and more A-listers became fathers again in their 70s.
American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz was 52 when she gave birth to her daughter Sarah in October 2001. Lyudmila Belyavskaya, second wife of Russian actor Aleksandr Belyavsky, gave birth to her first child, daughter Alexandra, in Moscow, Russia, on August 28, 2003, at the age of 52, after a natural conception.
It's highly unusual for a woman to get pregnant on her own after age 45. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2008 there were 0.7 births per 1,000 women ages 45 to 49, compared with 9.9 births per 1,000 women ages 44 to 40.
By 50, women are likely to only have a few hundred if any eggs left at all. The average age of menopause is around 51-52 years of age, though smoking and other factors may cause the onset of menopause earlier . Chemotherapy and radiation notably have a very toxic effect on egg quantity.
There is no set oldest age when you can get pregnant naturally, but fertility starts to decline as you age. You're usually not able to get pregnant between 5 and 10 years before menopause. You're born with all of the eggs you'll ever have. As you get older, the number of eggs you have decreases.
What are the chances of a 50 year old woman getting pregnant?
Age 40-44 – if you don't use contraception for a year and have regular sex, up to 20% of women will become pregnant. Age 45-50 – the chances are more like 10% Over 50 – the chance of pregnancy is significantly lower. Over the age of 55 – the chance of pregnancy is low enough for all women to stop using contraception.
Although it's unlikely, you can get pregnant during perimenopause. You probably still have periods at this time but may also notice symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings. Your body will still be releasing eggs – ovulating – and pregnancy is a possibility.
For most people, estrogen levels begin to fall gradually when they are in their 40s. A person will continue to ovulate and menstruate, but periods may become irregular or less frequent.
What are the disadvantages of having a baby later in life?
After age 35, there's a higher risk of pregnancy-related complications that might lead to a C-section delivery. The risk of chromosomal conditions is higher. Babies born to older mothers have a higher risk of certain chromosomal conditions, such as Down syndrome. The risk of pregnancy loss is higher.
CHILE (CBS) -- When 92-year-old Estela Melendez went to a hospital in Chile after a recent fall, she received some very odd news. Doctors discovered a calcified fetus in her womb that had been there for over a half century.
You can't reverse menopause or make your ovaries function normally again. However, your provider can help reduce the symptoms and side effects of menopause. In the case of primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), there's a small possibility you'll regain ovarian function.
