As more and more Canadian women choose to have children later in life, a recent study shows that pregnant women aged 35 and older tend to be stigmatized by medical guidelines and public policies.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on biomedical risks,” said study co-author Francesca Scala, a professor of political science at Concordia University.
It is true that some risk factors increase with age. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) cites “preterm birth, low birth weight, miscarriage, placenta previa, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, cesarean delivery” as problems that are becoming more common.
While Scala acknowledges that “these are legitimate concerns” and that expectant mothers should be well-informed before making decisions, she points out that such a focus on potential dangers often paints older mothers as “at risk,” ” abnormal’ or as ‘irresponsible’. reproductive citizens.”
For example, PHAC described in a 2008 paper the trend of delaying pregnancy as “a huge clinical and public concern,” she recalled.
“AGE PLAYS A PART IN IT”
In Quebec, as of November 2021, IVF costs are covered only for women under the age of 42 due to rapidly declining success rates around that age.
Also, while various organizations “are very careful not to make moral judgments about the value of a disabled life … there is a lot of emphasis on the likelihood of an elderly mother giving birth to a child with a disability,” she said, “and on the role of women as reproductive citizens to limit these risks.”
The idea that a mother must be absolutely young, healthy and energetic is widespread, according to Scala.
“There’s this idea that women are solely responsible for children … that the world of motherhood encompasses and consumes their entire lives,” she said, and that to live up to those expectations you have to have the energy of youth.
“A woman who looks older, who has gray hair … is not necessarily what you would consider an ideal mother.”
She cites one of the peer-reviewed documents, recommendations for in vitro fertilization, published by the Canadian Medical Association in 2015. While the text argues that preventing women from accessing these services would be unethical, it adds that “older women are exposed to more -a high risk of complications, which could endanger the safety of the offspring, in addition to the psychological or social discomfort that the child may experience if he has a mother old enough to be a grandmother.”
“I think ageism plays a part in it,” she said.
“There are many advantages to having children later in life,” she said in her study. “Previous research shows that older mothers are often better equipped to raise a child, have greater financial security and greater relationship stability. Recent studies also show that older motherhood is associated with long-term benefits for children, such as better language skills and academic performance.”
Even without bad intentions, personal aspirations and motherhood are often presented as a contradiction, she argues. For example, a guideline published by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada in 2011 explained that with the mistaken belief that assisted reproduction works every time, “unfortunately, this can give women a false sense of optimism that they can delay pregnancy while pursuing their education and career.” This guidance has since been withdrawn by the Society.
“On the one hand, women are encouraged to have a career, to be self-sufficient and to have a stable relationship, but on the other hand, they are warned that their biological clock is ticking,” adds the professor.
The study, titled “Questioning Older Motherhood in Canada: Ageism, Ability, and the Matter of Risk,” was published last March in the scientific journal Health, Risk & Society. Twenty medical and government publications from 1993 to 2021 were studied.
— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 16, 2022.
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