I think society as a whole has made it unacceptable to have children in our teen years, but it is true that as we get older our fertility declines. I think the actual age in years is sort of irrelevant to our maturity age IYKWIM in regards to having kids. I was married at 22, baby #1 at 23 and when I have #4 I will be nearly 30 if not there already. When I have #4 I will be the 'old girl' in hospital, the one who all the young first timers will say "gee, how does she go with 4? 1 is hard enough!" I know because this is what I said when I had Lindsay and there was an older woman in who'd just had #5.

In regards to age making better parents well I'll tell you this; When I had Lindsay, there was a girl I know who was 22 at the time and she had her little boy 1 day before Lindsay (they are now at school together). She FF that baby from day one and hardly spent any time at the hospital and was always up the street with her BF, leaving the midwives to look after that baby. When she got home she would leave her newborn son with her mother and go out partying all night doing god knows what (I know this because she was friends with my brothers GF at the time).

Now fast forward 10 months and there is a local girl who was 17, just had her first baby and BF like she had done it a million times before and to coin a phrase 'has her head screwed on right' she is a wonderful mother and is only just 21 now. Unfortunately she is not with the baby's father anymore, but she finished school, got a fantastic job as a trainee insurance broker and is doing amazing things with her life.

So who is to say that the age of the Mum makes them a better parent. Admittedly I don't like to see teenage girls have babies, merely because I want them to experience life a little first as a young adult without the responsibilities raising a child brings, but if that is what they want then so be it.

Sorry for the long post, but this is how I feel about it.