I guess you could say that I'm an 'older' mom, although I don't consider myself old by any means. My life was forever changed last year, when I gave birth for the first time at the age of 35. It wasn't that I didn't want to be a mom earlier, but things weren't right in my life. I wasn't in a financially secure situation or in a stable and loving relationship until a couple years ago and I wasn't comfortable with the thought of bringing a child into either situation.

On top of needing to get my life together first, I'd also been told for years that I probably would never conceive and that if I did, I most likely wouldn't be able to carry a baby to term. You can imagine our shock when my husband and I found out that I was carrying life and that he was going to be perfectly fine.

It used to be that people had babies in their 20's and not so much into their 30's and beyond, but that's all changing. People are actually having fewer children these days, and according to one study, the reason is purely materialistic. Research from Emory University indicates that people today would rather have a new car than another child.

Anthropologist Paul Hooper says that he put together a mathematical code which shows that people are striving for a higher social status and this has resulted in smaller families.

I'd like to believe that Hooper is wrong. I'd like to believe that instead of being consumed by materialistic things and the need to keep up with the Smiths, the reason people are not having kids or are waiting to have kids is because they're mature enough to know that maybe they need to be in a more stable relationship or more financially responsible. I don't live in a fantasy land and I realize that Hooper is probably right and I am wrong, but it's still a lovely thought to hold on to.

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