Utah moms are having babies later than ever
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Utah women are waiting longer than they did two decades ago to have children.
Why it matters: Increased access to fertility treatments and reliable birth control are helping more women delay parenthood, although obstacles remain to getting pregnant later in life.
By the numbers: On average, moms in Utah are 29 when they give birth — up from 26.7 in 2003 and slightly younger than the national average of 29.7, according to provisional CDC data.
Between the lines: Utahns are also getting hitched later.
- The median age of Utahns getting married for the first time was 26 in 2023, up from 24.5 in 2010, per census data.
Zoom in: In 2012, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began allowing 19-year-old women to serve 18-month missions, potentially delaying marriage and childbirth, according to research from the Utah Women & Leadership Project at Utah State University.
- Research also suggests that parents may delay having children by three to four years in a pricey real estate market. Utah is the seventh most expensive state to buy a house.
The big picture: Nationally, the birth rate for teenagers and women in their early 20s dropped to record lows in 2024, as the birth rate for women over 30 rose, per the CDC data.
- And women ages 30 to 34 had a higher birth rate (95.4 per 1,000 women) than those in their late 20s (91.4).
What they're saying: "Fertility declines with age, but 35 is not a cliff by any stretch," Emily Oster, an economist and bestselling author of pregnancy and parenting books, tells Axios.
- "Plenty of people have kids in their late 30s, but it might take a little more work and you might want to be thoughtful about your timing," says Oster, who recently launched a "trying to conceive" (TTC) section on her ParentData website.
Between the lines: Knowing about fertility barriers before trying to get pregnant could encourage hopeful older parents to address potential medical issues and perhaps freeze eggs for IVF — giving them a better shot at pregnancy.
What we're watching: It remains unclear whether access to IVF will be affected by recent reproductive health funding cuts and legislative battles.