Midlife Mothering

Motherhood scholars primarily have studied women with young children and, at best, mothers of adolescents; there is little documentation of the duration of motherhood and/or the variation in motherhood experiences across women's life stages or chronological ages. Mothering does occur at midlife and beyond, and encompasses those delaying childbearing and becoming mothers at midlife, and those mothering older children at midlife.

Midlife has been called the “last uncharted territory” of the life course, in that childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and old age have gained scholarly attention but little has been examined of the years between early adulthood and old age. When surveyed, most adults suggest that midlife is positive, but it is also a time within which they reassess their lives and decide whether or not ...