‘There’s no right or wrong time to start a family’
It was reported last week that one in five women in a survey of 2,000 mums felt they had their baby too late in life, and expressed regret over not having children when they were younger.
It’s interesting because I think we always want what we can’t change. I had my first son Musa, now 12, when I was just 21 [Nadiya also has son Dawud, 11 and daughter Maryam, eight]. Looking back, I wonder was that the right age? To be honest, I was a kid myself, and suddenly, I had to keep this human being alive. I remember I didn’t change a nappy for the first five weeks of my son’s life. My husband Abdul swooped in to do it all because he loves being hands-on with our kids. But he had to go back to work, so I was on my own with the baby, and it was a scary, new experience. In hindsight, part of me does think maybe I should have had kids later. At 33, I’m certainly a better mum than I was at 23, and I’m much more tolerant. On the plus side, I now have a 12 year old who is nearly as big as me, but I still have the energy to run around after him.
I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong time for anyone to start a family. I had children young, but then I entered the Bake Off at 30, and that’s when my life and career took off. I also have friends who spent their twenties building their career, and then had kids later on. Overall, I think the most important thing is to be happy and try to not have regrets.