Age of mother-link to autism?

Post Reply New Topic

A recent study in California came out that says that mothers over 40 have a higher chance of having a child with autism. I am just curious, if anyone feels comfortable posting the age they were when they had their child or children.

I heard that men over age 40 who have kids are more likely to have kids with mental illness (broad). My mother was 38 when she had me, and my dad was 44.

i'm not a parent, but likely have AS (and/or am NLD). i've been wondering about this---someone mentioned that higher age of mother and C-section birth may be related to AS. i googled it and did find an article or two.

but anyway---my mother was 44, and i was born by c-section.

I was twenty four when my son was born. My mum was twenty four when I was born. Her Mum was twenty two when she was born.

At least my son and I are both on the spectrum. My mother may have been undiagnosed... she had a very high IQ but social difficulties and depression. She killed herself in her early forties.

Age of mother doesn't seem to be a factor in our family.

I think the question that has been raised here is cause and effect, or chicken and egg. People with Aspie traits tend to marry and have children at later ages because, as most of us parents have seen, Aspies tend to be on a different maturation curve when it comes to anything with a social aspect to it, which dating, marriage and children certainly have a social aspect.

I was married for the first time at 36 and had my AS child at 38. My NT child was born a few months short of my 42 birthday. But, more importantly, I certainly carry AS genes (even if I am probably more NT than AS), and my husband carries AS genes. In both our families, with many members likely to have AS genes, there is a history of marrying late in comparison to the norms of the times.

So ... is it the age that is causing the AS births, or the prior existence of AS or AS aspects in the parents that is causing the later age for the births?

My parents were both young, 17 and 20. I have also read that being first born puts you at greater risk of autism but there wasn't anything else written to substantiate, just a list of risk factors.

Parents were both in their mid-to-later 30's when I was born. There was a study at Arizona State that found four statistically significant trends (although unsubstantiated - just apparent in raw data), including maternal fish consumption during pregnancy and pica as noticeably and seemingly connected, although how they are related is not clear.

My Aspie son was born naturally when I was 29.

I had also previously read that men over 40 had more of a chance of having an autistic child. But the article I read today stated that they think it is the mother. I was 40 when my son was born, and my husband was 41. I also had 2 miscarriages at age 42, so I thought that there was probably some genetic abnormality.

As far as seafood consumption, I do not care much for fish, but I had tuna fish maybe 3 times during my whole pregnancy, and did not eat it at all when I breastfed. I had read about the mercury concern. There was a lady I met at a parenting class that had a relative that ate a whole can of tuna every day with both of her pregnancies and both of her children were autistic. I guess she did not know about the mercury issue. The heavy metals link is concerning to me, although I have not had my son tested for any metals.

I am curious about the age thing though, I hope we get a lot more posts on this subject!

My mother was just about 40 when I was born, my dad is about 5 years older. I was a breach, and therefore a section. Only child.

I forgot to mention that my son was born naturally with no epidural.

I was 40 when my AS daughter was born .She was an emergency C section. The doctor said her head was wedged like a cork in a bottle.I have two older daughters both NT born naturely.

Hmm, now that I think of it, while there was no birth trauma per se, my son was born at 35 weeks, after a partial placental abruption two weeks earlier. However, I know a fair amount of premature kids and emergency C-section babies socially, and only one of them has any challenges. He's got ADHD, and knowing his parents, I wouldn't expect him NOT to have it. (Not a slam, there's just a family history of behavioral disorders.)

If you apply Occam's Razor, when you look at causes for various other conditions without an obvious cause such as hypoxia, genetics (whether a hereditary propensity or something related to aging gametes) are often at play; birth trauma, not so much. Of course it would be interesting to see someone do a study on birth trauma. However, given that a majority of people with a kid on the spectrum, when they look back at their family history, begin finding all kinds of stories and examples of possible ASD, so my money's on genetics.