Mum hits back at trolls who shamed her for having a baby at 45

Ellen Fitzpatrick

A mum has taken to social media after she was mum-shamed for having a baby at the age of 45.

Influencer Patti Avery Schmidt is mum to four children, three sons whom she had in her 20s and a baby girl whom she gave birth to when she was 45 years old.

Patti has since many negative comments on social media after giving birth later in life but has now hit back at the trolls to defend her decision to do this.

Speaking in a TikTok video, Patti responded to a comment that she had received on a video about her and her daughter, with the comment saying: “When she’s 20 you’ll be 60 that’s so sad.”

Correcting the commenter, she said that she was “actually 45 when [her] daughter was born, not 40′ before going on to ‘address some of the common criticisms that older moms sometimes get.”

@pattiaveryschmidt Replying to @ty.l3rrr #momsover40 #rainbowbabies #momsoftiktok ♬ original sound – Patti Avery Schmidt

She continued: “First of all, women having babies in their forties isn’t a new thing. Childbearing years span decades so why this is shocking to some people is beyond me. I know so many older moms, both now and when I was growing up.

“One of the most common criticisms that I see online is that it’s not fair to have children in your forties because those children won’t have as much time with you as they would if you had them when you were younger.

“The truth is nobody knows how much time they have but let’s say for the sake of the argument we all get the same number of years and we all expire on the same exact day, does that mean we owe it to the next generation to give birth as young as possible?”

The mum of four went on to say that “not everyone is ready or willing” to have a child when they’re younger and many prefer to wait until they have the “right partner”, are “financially stable” or “reach other goals first” to have children.

She also noted that infertility in her 30s also added to her decision, saying: “The most carefully laid plans can be completely out of our control and it’s mind-boggling to me that anyone can think a child has more or less right to exist based on the age of her mother.”