One of Jan Andersen's greatest joys is being a mother.

Andersen, 49, founder of Mothersover40.com and author, has a 10-year-old daughter. She also has older children from a previous marriage, so she has experience as both a younger and older parent.

"I have far more patience than I had as a younger mum in my 20s, and I cherish every moment with my daughter," Andersen said. "She is a very happy, outgoing and intelligent little girl who is excelling at school."

Andersen is part of a growing number of women, many of whom are baby boomers, raising children and choosing to have children later in life because of later marriages, careers and financial status.

"I haven't personally found any challenges as an older parent that one wouldn't face as a parent in general," she said about raising her daughter, Lauren. "The rewards are immense, and I certainly feel that my daughter has benefited from my life experiences."

Andersen said her experience with her oldest son was much different.

"When I gave birth to my first son at the age of 22, I was a single parent, and not only was I concerned about maintaining an active social life, but I was in a very unsettled phase in my life and certainly didn’t have the emotional strength that I have now," she writes in her blog.

Fertility At 40

Because Andersen remarried and wanted to become pregnant later in life, she discovered that there was "a huge gap in the market for a more positive and encouraging resource geared towards midlife parents."

She said there is a lot of discouraging information about becoming a parent when older.

"If one were to believe all the grim statistics you read about in the press and on the Internet, one would never believe that it is possible to conceive easily and have a straightforward pregnancy after a certain age," she said.

Because of the discouraging information she found, she founded a Web site and wrote a book about enhancing fertility.

More Resources

Andersen also said that research shows that older parents have a little more to give their children.

Some of that research is from Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University. He found that, on average, older parents provide more resources for their children.

"The older the parents, the more the investment the parents gave to the child," Powell said.

Although he said he thought that older parents would only spend more money, they do so much more. That includes saving for college, providing a place to study, being involved in parent-teacher associations, being involved with their children's friends' parents and communicating with the young ones.

His research, which was published in the Social Forces, was found to apply to kindergarteners and eighth graders.

One Way To Happiness?

Deborah Perry Piscione fits perfectly into the category of a parent who can provide more for her children in many areas, including finances.

Piscione, 41, said she believes that she is a better parent because she waited until later in life to have children.

"I'm an advocate of having kids older," she said.

She is the CEO of BettyConfidential.com and works from home. That gives her flexibility that allows her to be engaged with her children.

She also does not have any regrets about choosing to have children later in life because she has lived a full life.

"The way we are socialized -- we dream about our wedding day, but I took a different path," Piscione. "I needed to do things differently."

After getting married five years ago, she now has a 4-month-old girl, Dayne Alexandria, and 3-year-old fraternal twin boys, Drake and Dominick.

While delaying marriage and motherhood, Poscione traveled internationally and furthered her education. She also worked in President George H.W. Bush's administration. In all, she spent 18 years in Washington, D.C., as a political commentator.

"There's no resentment because I don't feel like I'm missing out," she said.

Piscione said she doesn't worry about her health or energy level for her children. She and her husband run marathons.

"We keep up with our kids' energy level," she said.

She is well adjusted to the fact that she and her husband will be in their 60s when their children are in their 20s.

"I do wonder about what shape I'll be in for my grand(children)," she said.