This is the subject of an article published in the journal Health, Risk and Society by Francesca Scala, Professor of Political Science at the School of Arts and Sciences. In it, he argues that much of the official language surrounding older motherhood has its roots in both older character and ability, as well as in incompatibility with current trends in childbirth. According to the Statistics Canada, the average age of childbirth has been steadily rising since the mid-1960s, with more women giving birth between the ages of 35 and 39 than between 20 and 24. However, mothers’ social expectations remain largely unchanged. Emphasizing the negatives Scala and co-author Michael Orsini at the University of Ottawa analyzed two dozen English-language policy papers, government reports and professional statements and guidelines containing terms such as “advanced maternal age”, “delayed childbearing”, “older mothers” and ” infertility.” Documents dating between 1993 and 2020. They identified three main issues in their research: older mothers were considered dangerous maternal subjects, they were abnormal or irresponsible reproductive citizens. Researchers do not rule out biomedical risks in later pregnancies, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Older women are at risk and their children are at increased risk for chromosomal abnormalities (although until recently, risks related to advanced paternity, such as schizophrenia or autism, were rarely reported. More problematic is the idea that older mothers are abnormal. “There is this model of intensive maternal ideology that is pervasive in our society, where motherhood is a role that covers all women,” Scala explains. “It is based on the idea that women are the primary caregivers and are solely responsible for the health and well-being of their children. Older mothers question our idea of a ‘good mother’ – someone who is young, energetic and has time and resources to be fully devoted to the upbringing of children “. References are also made to the texts of the possible negative psychological effects that a child may experience when he has a mother old enough to be his grandmother. This concern appears in the White Paper on the Canadian Medical Association for Reproductive Technologies. Little is said about the effects of advanced paternal age. “We see a lot of information on government websites about the ideal time to have children, in terms of fertility, although studies show that older women are often better prepared to have children,” says Scala. “They have the financial resources to take care of their offspring and they have stability in their relationships.” This presumption that delayed childbirth is a problematic or financial burden for the state can also affect access to IVF, he says. Some provinces in Canada will not extend insurance coverage if a woman undergoes IVF after the age of 42, for example, because of the increased risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth and the low success rate of treatment. “Our goal as social scientists was not to question biomedical risk statistics, but to see if older mothers themselves had problems in these discussions,” says Scala. Instead of placing the burden on women to follow their “biological clock”, I would like to see more discussion on how the wider social and economic forces shape women’s path to motherhood. How can we, as a society, support them? “Women who have children at their ideal time, for example, with an accessible daycare center, so that they are not punished for having children too early or too late?” Story source: The material is provided by Concordia University. Original written by Patrick Lejtenyi. Note: Content can be modified for style and length.
