The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the lives of
families who delayed parenthood. Sixty-nine families who had their fir
st child after the age of 35 completed standardized instruments that a
ssessed marital satisfaction, parental stress, and family functioning.
Some differences were found both between the scores of delayed parent
s and the nonclinical normative scores and between men and women withi
n a group of delayed parents. The findings of the present study sugges
t that families who delayed parenthood are more similar than different
from other families and that within a group of delayed parents mother
s are more alike than different from fathers.