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Stars blamed for rise in older mothers

By Carla Bevan on Friday 21 March 2008

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Halle Berry

Stars like Halle Berry and Nicole Kidman are to blame for the growing number of women leaving children to an older age, according to fertility doctor Brian Lieberman.

Professor Lieberman claims to be concerned that women are looking on celebrities who leave childbirth to their early forties as role models.

'Ordinary women see someone like Nicole Kidman having a child and they think they are all right,' he told the Daily Mail.

'But it can't be said often enough that women's fertility falls with age and there's no real way of preserving that fertility.'

The number of women in their forties having children has doubled in the past 15 years, with Londoners leading the trend.

However, rates of miscarriage rise from 15% to more than 25% for women in this age bracket.

Lieberman, who advises the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, says for many women who wish to conceive after 40, donated eggs may be the only option.

Friday 21 March 2008

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I had my children in my twenties and thirties - I would not like to be having my first baby now I'm 45! It's too tiring - at least when you're young you have more energy, plus you're more in touch with your own youth and can understand your children better. There is life after childbirth you know - not everyone's brain goes to mush!
Comment by Gena on March 26 10:45

I find it incredibly patronising to assume women who "leave" having children until their early 40s make a decided choice. There are other issues, such as not having met a life partner until later in life, that force the decision.
Comment by JH on April 13 19:02