I Became a Grandma in My 30s & Breastfed My Kids & Grandkids
Some say that if you become a parent when you're younger, you'll have more energy than older parents do and that by having kids young, you'll still be able to enjoy your twilight years without being bogged down with parenting duties. Jane McNeice, 47, ended up on just such a path. But there's a twist: Jane wasn't finished having babies yet. She went on to have two sons, both younger than their first niece. "I think that's quite extreme and that won't feel comfortable for everyone," Jane said. TWO YEARS LATER, JANE RESTARTED HER FAMILY. She did what most moms would and started joining parenting groups on Facebook looking for answers about what was happening with her son. OLIVER WASN'T LIKE ALL THE OTHER KIDS. "I was scrolling through the page on Saturday morning and I just came across the post titled 'girls with autism' with symptoms listed around, and I literally just went, 'Tick, tick, tick.' I knew straight away," Jane told Caters. LAURA ALSO STRUGGLED TO FIT IN. She said that two months later, her daughter Laura had her diagnosis as well, and three months after Laura, Oliver was diagnosed. The teenage pregnancy that once seemed so jarring now made sense to them. I bought into the neurotypical ideals that your child does well they go off to university and they get a great job They get married they have two to four children a nice house... ...a nice car Now that we know we re autistic we re able to say What is normal for us It s a different standard to what is normal for a neurotypical family Jane said "The decision to seek assessment is an individual choice and, for me, one of the best decisions of my life." "Autistic people struggle to make friends," Jane admitted.