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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Question from Len - Old and young age limits for childbirth

How old was considered old for a woman to be having a baby? And was there a minimum age, beneath which people were concerned?

2 comments:

  1. The women and families I study expected girls to be in their sixteenth year (15) and to have started their periods before marrying or living with a spouse if an earlier contract was concluded.

    For the Carey/Knollys family through 1603, descendants of Mary Boleyn Carey, the minimum female age at first child was 16; the average 21. The average number of children was 4 and the maximum number of children was 14.

    Katherine Carey Knollys was 38 when her last child was born. He did not live a year. Anne Morgan Carey was approx. 34 when her last child was born.

    Lettice Knollys Devereux Dudley was 37 when her last child was born. Anne Knollys West was about 38.

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  2. Margaret Beaufort was only 12 when she gave birth to Henry VII. I think that was rare, but it did happen. Catherine Parr's first and only pregnancy occurred at the age of 35.

    I don't think there was an age at which a woman was considered too old to have a baby. As far as I've read, women were expected to welcome a pregnancy regardless of their age and the risks to their health. As for a youngest age to become pregnancy, I believe that for most girls, it was decided based upon what was perceived as reproductive readiness. Since girls enter puberty at different ages, it varied from woman to woman.

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