A mum-of-one has opened up about the backlash she and her husband are facing from family members after deciding to have their second child later in life.

She says instead of support, they’ve been met with constant questioning about their choice – simply because they didn’t follow everyone else’s timeline.

The 39-year-old and her 42-year-old husband have a four-year-old son, and say they now feel ready for a second child.

“We left things quite late in terms of having kids we’ve been together 18 years, and in that time we’ve had a lot of fun, traveled, and done everything we could while we had the chance and without too many worries,” she explained in an online forum.

“Now that we’ve finally settled down, we got married nine years ago. We were one of those couples that were engaged for a few years not because we didn’t want to get married or weren’t sure, but because we wanted to experience other things before having a wedding. We did couples counselling to make sure we were a good match, both for parenting and for marriage. I was worried about repeating my mum’s mistakes, so I did individual counselling as well.”

The mum explained that she and her husband have always wanted children, but they just wanted to have as many life experiences as possible before making such a big commitment.

“We’ve faced a lot of judgment, mainly from my family, but we feel ready now. I think we’re great parents even though it’s only been four years, the journey has just begun. Our son is the light of our lives, and we really enjoy being parents.

“I’m glad we got to do all the things we wanted before having children, but I do feel judged sometimes. My mum thinks I was selfish for not having kids in my late 20s. I’ve told her that we’ve been trying recently and struggling, but she doesn’t really offer support just says I’m old and should have done it when I was ‘more fertile’.

“My husband and I have had a lot of conversations about this. We’ve decided that if trying naturally doesn’t work, we’ll try a few rounds of IVF, and if that doesn’t succeed, we’ll continue living our lives. We’re lucky to have our son, and he is incredibly loved.”

It’s left the mum, who turns 40 this year, feeling like she’s to blame for the issues she and her husband are having trying to add to their family.

“Is 40 too late and are we being selfish. Seeing my brothers and sister with all their children and their children having siblings, I want that for our son. Maybe I should have spent my 20s having children and we wouldn’t have this issue.”

What’s your advice for this mum? Share it in the comments below.