According to a study in the journal Nature, women who are able to become moms in their fifth decade seem to age slower and live longer. The study, conducted by researchers from Harvard University, compared two groups of women born in 1896. Their findings were stunning: Women who lived to 100 were four times more likely have had children while in their forties than were those who died at 73. "The ability to have children in the fifth decade may be a marker for slow aging and subsequent ability to achieve extreme longevity," the study concluded.
How does late menopause add years to a woman's life? Researchers aren't certain, but they think high estrogen levels have something to do with it. Studies show the hormone may delay the onset of diseases associated with aging.