30 is Not a Magic Number

I generally try to take a "live and let live" approach to parenting, that, as long as you're not abusing or neglecting your kid, it's not my place to judge. I hope to receive the same basic courtesy from others, but try not to be surprised if I don't get it. That said, the third paragraph out of the four in this article pushed my buttons.
http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/06/21/cdc_and_pregnacy_rates_contraception_working_women_delaying_motherhood.html
It says that the uptick in women waiting until their 30s to have babies "should be greeted as unadorned good news. Yes, pregnancies in one's 30s have somewhat higher risks, but those risks are far outweighed by the benefit to both mothers and children if women wait until they're ready to have their babies."
I have a slew of problems with this assertion that women in their 30s are ready, whereas younger women are not, and waiting until then to have children is better for everyone.
1. It devalues the women who do choose to have children before they hit 'the big 3-0', and praises these slightly older mothers for timing that may or may not have been intentional. Do I hear some of you tongue-clucking that these mothers are not only older, but wiser? This arbitrary cut off means that the woman who goes in to labor the week after her thirtieth birthday is a paragon of prepared motherhood, but if she'd given birth in the week leading up to her birthday, she would have been one of those rash twenty-somethings, barreling in to parenthood before being "ready".
2. These "risks" that she so breezily dismisses are manifold. One of them, occurring more frequently with older mothers and/or older fathers, is an increased risk of genetic anomalies, the most visible being trisomy. Down syndrome is a type of trisomy, the other not quite as well known trisomies being of the 13th or 18th chromosome. All three of these conditions can have a sever impact on the wellbeing of the child as well as their abilities and opportunities throughout their lives. Trisomy 13 and trisomy 18 also have higher stillbirth rates and a much greater tendency toward extremely early mortality, which should not be summarily dismissed. For those who say 'those are just 3 trisomies. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes that could have an extra copy', that's true. Most of the other trisomies end up in miscarriage because the fetus is not viable. This is a small but very real risk, and the author should not brush it off as if there is nothing to it. Miscarriage and stillbirth are tragedies for the families, and the journey toward a happy and independent adulthood is much harder when that child has a disability or severe health problems, even now with all the social supports and medical advances available.
3. Female fertility starts declining at 28, so waiting until after 30 makes it harder to conceive a child. This can lead to a child who's just a bit later than planned, but it can also lead to years of costly and increasingly unpleasant fertility treatments, which have variable rates of success. Another hazard of the wait 'til thirty/fertility treatment rout is that if it doesn't work and the couple (or single woman, as the case may be) decides that the child is more important than the pregnancy and wants to adopt, they may have aged past the cutoff for many countries and adoption agencies. I am not trying to rush anyone in to parenthood, but I do think that this is another risk that people who want children-but not just yet, should be aware of so that they can make informed decisions.
4. It reinforces the idea that babies like mine (born before 30) must be unintended, and allows people like the work acquaintance (neither coworker nor customer, just a more frequent visitor to the worksite) to include "it was a surprise, wasn't it?" in a barrage of questions she asked when she found out I was (5 or 6 months) pregnant without feeling they ware being rude. It is EXTREMELY rude (and in her case extremely extremely none of her business). Afterwards I wanted to point out that I was married with a house, a bachelors degree, and a full time job, and ask what exactly made me unfit to have sought out motherhood, but it was a party and I had work to do.

I'm asking that Amanda Marcotte (the author of this piece) respect that woman can make good decisions with regard to childrearing, and can know for themselves whether a baby before thirty is too early or just right, and whether they are willing to deal with the increasing risks as they delay childbearing.