Age isn't just a number

In my previous poll I asked "what is the best age to start a family?" Most people answered in the 25-30 age range, but I did get a few votes for over 30. While I would really like to be finished with having my children before the big 30 hits, it is becoming more and more common to start your family in your 30's. My husband recently met a couple who waited until they were 40 to start their family. They said it provided them with  better financial freedom and time together as husband and wife before introducing children. Is this the reason more and more people are waiting to have kids later in life? 1 in 5 babies are now born to parents over 30. That's a pretty big number! My biggest concern would be that with age comes more risk. Women who wait longer to have children have more fertility complications and are at a higher risk for having a child with a birth defect. At age 35 the chance of having a child with Down Syndrome is 1 in 400, more than triple the rate of someone at age 25 ( 1 in 1250). Not to mention the increased chance for miscarriage. Could waiting too late in life be the cause of all the fertility problems we are hearing of? Are women choosing to wait until their 30's to have kids or are they just not able to find 'the right one' earlier in life? As a married woman in her mid-early 20's, I can certainly say that I will not be waiting, I'd rather not take a chance on those statistics.