According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, more than 3.8 million babies were born in the United States during 1997. Of those, only 144 were born to women age 50 and over. And some of these pregnancies likely were the result of fertility drugs or some form of medical manipulation, such as in-vitro fertilization. The average age of menopause is 51. It hasn't changed in years and, experts agree, there is no indication that it is changing now.
Women reach menopause when they have gone one full year without a menstrual period.
However, menopause can occur as early as 40 and as late as 60. News reports indicate that Garcia's menstrual periods were irregular at the time the triplets were conceived. Ironically, while it's extremely rare for women in their 50s to have children without the fertility aids, it's not rare for older women to have multiple births. Garcia gave birth to fraternal triplets, which means that she produced at least three eggs, all of which were fertilized. The average age of new mothers appears to be increasing slightly, says Arlyce Shook, a nurse manager in the birthing center at Fairview University Medical Center's Riverside, Minn., campus.