Older Parents, Younger Kids.(late life parenthood has both risks and benefits)

Fifteen years ago, older adults at the playground were generally assumed to be grandparents. These days they're just as likely to answer to "Daddy." Life expectancy is rising; couples are postponing marriage and childbirth. New fertility treatments are making it possible for those in midlife and even older to have children. Dr. Marc Goldstein, chief of male reproductive medicine at New York Presbyterian-Weill Medical College, says the cutoff age for people seeking fertility treatment is dissolving. "Treating people who five years ago would have been considered too old," he says, "is becoming routine."

Late-life parenthood is not without serious medical risk. As women age, their pregnancies can be more complicated for both mother and child. Rates of pre- eclampsia, gestational diabetes and miscarriage all rise. The frequency of Down syndrome jumps exponentially, too. Doctors have also found links between advanced paternal age and schizophrenia in their children.

Many older parents find themselves calibrating their limited financial resources, waning energy and failing health against the growing demands of an active child. Older ...