Hello World, 
“The View”‘s Sherri Shepherd recently announced that she and her husband Lamar Sally will be having a baby on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” according to Elev8. However, as Shepherd, whom I interviewed for my book “After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God,” is 46 years old, the couple have opted to use a surrogate mother.
“We found a drama-free uterus,” Shepherd told Tom and Sybil. “We found a girl that didn’t have any drama in her life. We’re putting in our egg and Sal’s sperm and we’ll let you know how it progresses.”
Sherri, who already has one son Jeffrey from her previous marriage, recently released her book “Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes (Even If You Don’t Have It)”and new wig line LUXHAIRNOW by Sherri Shepherd will debut on QVC on June 13.
As I will be getting married this summer, I have started to think about motherhood and whether it’s a real possibility as I will be 40 years old this year…I love spending time with my niece, who is 5 years old, and my nephew, who is 12 years old, and I have worked with the youth at my church in various capacities from being a Sunday School teacher to Vacation Bible School director. But I wonder if I have what it takes to be a mother at this age. I get so sleepy sometimes, and I cannot imagine having to tend to a crying baby at night. And a friend of mine who recently had a baby told me how much she pays for a diapers! Children are expensive, and I have to save for my retirement 🙂 And then if you want to go somewhere you can’t just hop into your car and ride out. You have to consider if you can bring the baby along and if not, you have to find a sitter…And on top of all that, I will be a whopping 40 years older than my child…An old mama. So anyway, these are some of my concerns/fears as I ponder if motherhood is truly for me…I know this all sounds whiny and selfish, but just because you have a uterus doesn’t mean you are supposed to be a mother…
If you’ve had a children at 40 years old and older, let me know how it has been for you!
Any thoughts?
I’m happy for them. They have money, so she’ll have all the help she needs, but I say better her than me! My girls were born when I was 18 and 28, and taking care of them while working full-time, running a house, taking care of a husband and working in the church took it’s toll on me. There were times I remember being so tired I thought I was going to die.
There other drawback I see to being an older mom is if you’re 45, you’re probably not going to see any grandchildren until you’re 70! Grandchildren are much more fun when you’re young enough to enjoy them. JMHO…
Might I comment about being young enough to enjoy grandchildren? I will be 66 next month. As I have aged, I have heard things that tell me that we as women (not just men) have seriously flawed perceptions about age. Your comment was one of them. Believe me that 70 is only a number. Think about this when you turn the age that you now consider as ‘old’. I have an about-to-be-four years old grand niece with whom I romp and talk and jump and play as heartily as I would have done at 40 or 30. As long as one is in good health and not physically restricted, being a grandma is very real and very wonderful at any age.
Being so tired you thought you would die? Not good 🙂 Being a grandmother at 70…Well, I’m a young 39 now so hopefully that will be the case when I’m 70 🙂 prayerfully so!
I just had a baby a month ago. I’m 39 this is my 5th child. I’m a CEO
and can afford a nanny but I’m not getting one
Having a baby later in life made me really evaluate my
Priorities and made me delegate more stuff to my husband
. I also battled cancer while all this was going on. So
I really had to destress my life for the baby and
For me.
Now I say no to a lot if things. Tell your hubby
To be ready for little league at 60.
Oooh a nanny sounds divine :), but kudos to you for being Super Mom with 5 children and being a CEO! And I pray that you are doing well now since you mentioned you battled cancer…thanks for sharing your thoughts…I’ve been reading the responses out there on FB and my blog and it’s good to know that others have had children at older ages and are doing well!
I had twins, a boy and a girl, at 43. After a 4 month maternity leave, I went back to work full-time as a lawyer. Having children at that age kept me young and vibrant. My children are now 25 and single, so being 68 I might never live to see any grandchildren. But so what? Having my kids was the best thing I ever did. My children loved to tell me all through school that despite the fact that I was always the oldest mom around I was still the best -looking of them all!
I have a 5 year old and 22 month old and I’m 43. I’m so glad I had children later. I had many years to focus on me, travel and do whatever I wanted to do. I have so much more wisdom to share with them because of my own life experiences. Also, I really know what’s important to me now and plan my life/schedule accordingly.