They lift your spirits, prompt you to think, make you feel grateful and inspire you to do more. They connect you to our community, shining a spotlight on what's good about our city. They're stories that are Uniquely Milwaukee, sponsored by the Milwaukee Public Library.
In honor of Mother’s Day, we’re dedicating this special episode of Uniquely Milwaukee to moms (and even those considering motherhood). We’re making sure to acknowledge the love, guidance, protection and sacrifice you give to — and for — your children. Thank you.
Becoming a mother can happen at any age and stage in life. Increasingly, though, it seems that age and stage fall later and later.
In March, the National Center for Health Statistics released a report showing that, for the first time, women 40 and older are having more babies than teenagers. The data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) shows that from 1990 to 2023, the fertility rate increased 71% for women 35 to 39 and 127% for women 40 to 44.
To give something more concrete, in 1990 just more than 50,000 births happened for women 40 and older. Thirty-three years later, that number has almost tripled.
Inspired by that trend, we decided to focus on moms over 40 with this Mother’s Day episode in three parts:
- Shayvon McCullum already had two children, now 15 and 20 years old. But after meeting her partner who had none of his own, she agreed to try again. Now, at 42, she’s got a 1-year-old girl and a very happy life.
- Dr. Marie Forgie, an OB/GYN from Advocate Aurora Health, gives her professional insight to motherhood for older women and things to consider when making the decision.
- Finally, a heartwarming conversation between my Radio Milwaukee colleague Carolann Grzybowski and her mother, Diane Cohen, who was in her 40s when she had both Carolann and her sister.
“If you really want children, you have to go for it and believe that you’ll handle it, you’ll do the best you can and everything will be okay because things will fall into place,” Cohen said. “I want to be very clear that I think being intentional about it is important. On the other hand, you can’t overthink it. It’s not just a decision in your head; it’s very emotional, and it depends a lot on your family situation, relational situation and the state of the support in your community as well.
“I mean, you love them no matter what, and you’ll make it work no matter what to get them the best life that they can have.”
