Do many older women give babies up for adoption?

Hi. I'm a writer and librarian and would like to hear about how and why women in their thirties might give a baby up for adoption, and does it present different emotions than when the woman is younger? The woman I am writing about gave up a baby in her mid-thirties - she's from a Catholic family and mostly did it to keep from disappointing her parents.
Additional Details
Excellent points about the time period. The story is current and the character is 60, so if I take her back to about 1973, just as abortion was legalized, she would have been 25. With very Catholic parents and a married man involved, is it more plausible? Thanks so much for your answers!

grapesgum

What is the era of your story? A catholic woman in her thirties who is worried about "disappointing" her parents strikes me as medieval. If your book is set in any time post the mid 1970s, I suggest that you consider another culture where women are still denied their rights.

I Love A Child With Autism!!!

I have two adopted children and both of their mothers were in their 30's. My older daughter's mother, chose adoption because she already had special needs children at home and was just not capable of taking care of one more, as they were all very close in age. My younger daughter's mom was 38 and the mother of 4 other children. They were all older and mom said she just didn't want to raise another child. She told me that she was too far along for an abortion by the time she found out she was pregnant so she felt she would rather relinquish the child than raise another baby.

maybe

Is this fiction or non-fiction? I can't imagine a woman giving up a baby in her mid-thirties to avoid disappointing her parents.

I think the emotional struggles would be the same, but with some added complexities due to her age. Young women are more likely to be hopeful that they will get pregnant again at some point in their lives, but a woman in her thirties hears the biological clock ticking much more loudly. Would she really be willing to give up a baby knowing this may be her last shot at motherhood?

naughty girl

I put my babies up for adoption when i was 17. If I would of had them in my thirties or even now, I would of kept them, I wasn't ready mentally, emotionally, or financially. I now have a baby of my own and would be perfectly capable of doing it now. Im 24 now and have a 14 month old son, and a husband who loves me, and a career. I was able to finish school and make something of myself. I do not regret for one moment my decision to give them up. I couldn't imagine why someone at that age would. Who am I to judge, I understand how scary it can be.

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