Scotland’s ‘oldest new mum’ – Five years on

She’s the woman who became known as Scotland’s oldest new mum, giving birth the day after her 50th birthday. But five years on, how is Juliet Le Page coping with two toddlers, tantrums and the terrifying thought of her first grandchild arriving when she’s in her 70s? We caught up with her to find out if age is a barrier or a blessing when it comes to parenting

It was the day she should have been blowing out the candles on her birthday cake and celebrating five decades. Instead, Juliet Le Page was sitting on the floor in an antenatal class, contemplating a Caesarean section booked for the next day.

“I never thought of myself as ‘too old’ to have a baby,” she recalls. “My main concern was being the oldest mum in the playground, but that was never a good enough excuse not to have children.

“Ideally I’d have liked to do it sooner, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

On November 19, 2008, Juliet, now 54, gave birth to baby Julia Kitty Rose.

She conceived the tot after privately-funded fertility treatment in Spain, using husband Richard’s sperm and an egg donated by a 24-year-old.

The couple, from Edinburgh, were forced to search abroad, after Juliet was ruled too old for help in the UK.

And the arrival of Julia, now four, carved Juliet’s place in the history books dubbed “Scotland’s oldest new mum” after having a baby aged 50 and one day.

But Julia was a second child for Juliet and investment manager Richard.

The pair, who met in 2002, discussed having kids after just six months together but, at 44, medics deemed Juliet’s eggs “too old” for IVF.

Desperate for a child, the couple decided their best option was gamete donation (donor eggs).

Juliet could either spend years on an NHS waiting list or supply her own donor and speed up the process.

She chose the latter, placing an ad in a local newspaper which attracted a huge response, and conceived first time after finding a British egg donor.

Despite health complications linked to older mums, including miscarriage, genetic disorders and birth complications, Juliet gave birth in 2006 to a healthy son Rafe, now six.

“I hadn’t really thought about children until I met Richard,” Juliet smiles. “Now I have two and I couldn’t be happier.

“It’s amazing how much everything has changed.”

Life for Juliet now is a far cry from 10 years ago when she spent her days working to fund a nice lifestyle of travelling and eating out.

“Let’s just say life is very, very, very busy,” she laughs. “The funniest thing about having children is that all people ever seem to talk about is pregnancy and the first year after birth.

“Nobody tells you what you’re letting yourself in for after that or just how much your life has to change to accommodate children. They certainly don’t mention the terrible twos or the tantrums!

“But we all try to do the best for our kids I’m no different. I cope with it just the same.

“I don’t think my age has been any barrier to being a good mum. In fact, I feel like being older makes me a little better at it!

“Aside from more patience and more understanding, I’ve lived my own life and now it’s all about the kids.

“I don’t want to live it up at the weekends with wild parties, and I’m not selfish like I was in my 20s and 30s.

“Of course, I take some time out every couple of weeks, having a night out with Richard or friends if I didn’t I’d go mad! but other than that I’m content just being a parent.”

While she still feels young at heart, Juliet confesses to making a few lifestyle changes since having kids, such as eating healthily to keep her energy levels up.

“I’m not geriatric yet, but I’m definitely slower,” she laughs. “I can’t sprint, that’s for sure.

“But I like to think of myself as an active mum. We go for family bike rides and, with two children in tow, I’m very used to running around!

“I don’t think about it every day, but age is always there at the back of my mind.

“I often wonder if I’ll be able to keep up this energy right through Julia and Rafe’s school years.

“And I think I’ll notice it more in the years to come, when my friends start becoming grandparents and I’ll have to wait at least another 20 more years for that.

“Or when Julia is 20 and I’m 70. It’s certainly a thought!

“But the truth is I might never reach 70 you just never know what’s around the corner. I could be run over by a bus.

“So what’s the point in worrying about it?”

However, Julia is already starting to realise how quickly the years speed past.

“Julia will be starting school in August and Rafe will be going into P3. It’s crazy it feels like only yesterday I was bringing them home from hospital!”

While she seems to have taken parenthood in her stride, Juliet admits it hasn’t all been plain sailing, especially the year she spent battling breast cancer.

She was diagnosed after finding a lump in August 2010 and faced gruelling chemo and surgery while trying to raise two tots.

“Everything is fine now, but it wasn’t a happy time at all,” she remembers. “It wasn’t easy on the children. Some days I was so sick I couldn’t look after them.

“But they were amazing, and I think knowing I had to be there for them is what helped me pull through.

“Of course, they were too young to understand, but I think they knew on some level that Mum was pretty sick and they did everything they could to help me get better.

“I don’t know how I would have coped if I didn’t have Julia, Rafe and Richard’s support.”

And support is what Juliet now offers in the form of her new career.

The former physiotherapist now runs a company, Fertility Concerns, which helps couples and individuals who are having problems conceiving. It was a venture she started working on while planning her first pregnancy.

“It’s a great job. I love it,” she says. “There’s nothing more rewarding than helping couples who dream of having a family make that a reality.

“But the key is often in changing your way of thinking. It’s a choice between wanting a baby or wanting a family.

“If it’s a family you want, there are ways and means of making that happen. For some, it’s trying to improve your chances of conceiving naturally, for others it’s egg and sperm donations and for some couples, it’s adoption.

“But most will get there in the end.

“My advice would be not to leave it too late to think about kids, because if you get older and you are struggling to conceive, it makes things a lot more complicated.

“But I absolutely love being an older mum. It’s certainly worked for me.”

As for more kids? “No chance!” Juliet laughs. “If I were 10 years younger, I might have thought about trying for a third but I’m definitely too old for that now!”