More babies born for women over 40 than teens for the first time in US history

The adolescent pregnancy epidemic may be declining, the data suggest.

For the first time in US history, more women over the age of 40 have children compared to adolescent mothers, according to new data from disease control and prevention centers (CDC).

This reflects the trend of more Americans either to choose not to have children or add them until later.

The total number of US births fell by 14% between 1990 and 2023, according to the March 2025 report.

During this time, birth levels among women younger than 20 decreased by 73%, marking the decline in the highest percentage of all age groups.

This resulted in a decrease from one to eight adolescent births in 1990 to one in 25 in 2023.

Women between 20 and 24 also had 44% less births from 1990 to 2023, while they fell by 23% between 25-29 years old.

The number of births among women aged 30 to 34 increased by 24%. Women between 35 and 39 suffered a 90% steep increase in births.

Women 40 and older marked a new new birth to birth levels, seeing an increase of 193% from 1990 to 2023.

In 1990, women over 40 accounted for 1.2% of births. In 2023, that percentage had increased to 4.1%.

Women over 30 made up more than half of births (51.4%) in 2023, compared to only three in 10 births in 1990.

The CDC found that these specific age changes caused a shift in maternal age distributions.

In 1990, women younger than 30 comprised seven in 10 births (69.8%).

But in 2023, this age group constituted less than one in two (48.6%).

“The size of lowering birth levels among women younger than 30 was greater than the size of rate raising in women 30 and older, resulting in lower fertility levels,” the CDC commented.

“The decline in fertility levels over the past decades results in the decline of rates in women younger than 30, accompanied by lower rates in older women.”

Dr. Ashley Wiltshire from Columbia University’s fertility center in New York commented on this fertility change in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“This shift is likely due to the combination of advances in both methodologies of assisted contraception and reproductive technology (Art),” she said.

“The purpose of both entities is to improve the overall reproductive autonomy for all women – from those who do not want to conceive for those who do.”

This includes people looking for single parents, those who are in the same sex relationship, and those who delay the birth of children for personal or medical reasons, Wiltshire added.

As egg freezing and embryo banks become more popular among women in the late 20s and 30s, Wiltshire agreed that these methods “can” greatly increase an individual’s chances of conceiving in later ages “.

“Moreover, donor egg is also a commonly used treatment option that can significantly improve the chances of pregnancy and live birth later in life,” she added.