Woman who still gets asked for ID becomes one of the UK's youngest grandmothers at 34
A woman, who looks so young that she still gets asked for ID, has become one of the UK's youngest grandmothers at the age of just 34.
Rachel McIntyre, a model from Edinburgh, Scotland, welcomed her first grandchild at the end of July and shared the happy news on social media, where users claimed she looked far too young to be a granny and others congratulated her on what they assumed to be hew own newborn.
McIntyre found herself pregnant for the first time when she was just 15, so when she discovered that her then 17-year-old daughter was pregnant last year, she had some reservations about being a young granny because she knows how hard it is being a young, full-time mum.
"My daughter's only just turned 18, and I was very shocked when I found out she was pregnant," McIntyre explains.
"But once it sunk in, I started getting excited. I knew that I was obviously going to support her.
"People don't even believe I'm my daughter's mum," the new gran continues. "They look at me in complete shock when I tell them. They're like, 'Wait, are you not sisters? When I say I'm a granny too, it's even more of a shock.'
"I still get asked for ID because I look so young," McIntyre adds. "It's annoying, but it's a bit of a compliment too."
Read more: Mum and daughter gave birth to their babies two weeks apart, Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read
While she is enjoying settling into her new role as a granny after her granddaughter's birth on July 25, McIntyre admits that it was stressful watching her daughter in labour.
The mum-of-two, who also has another daughter, aged 10, says: "It was quite traumatising to see your daughter go through something like that at 17.
"The labour was a bit horrific, but thankfully my granddaughter is such a good baby.
"She doesn't really cry. She just makes noises when she's hungry and eats and sleeps."
Watch: 'I gave birth at 15 and am now one of Britain's youngest grans at just 33'
McIntyre says the biggest upside to being a young gran is that she is young and fit enough to do a lot of things with her granddaughter.
"When my granddaughter is a bit older, I can take her out to places and I won't be tired like some older grannies," she explains.
"In fact I don't think there's any downsides to being a granny at 34," she continues.
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Though she says she hasn't so far been judged for being such a young grandparent, McIntyre says she won't let it bother her even if does experience it.
"People will criticise anything these days," she says. "Life is all about being happy, and as long as you're happy, then you'll go far."
McIntyre, who herself became a mum at 16, says that despite looking more like her granddaughter's mum than her granny, she would never want to be called anything else.
"I want to be called granny," she explains. "I would never want to be called just Rachel. She's my angel."
Read more: Baby has six grandmothers and is the fifth living generation of her family, Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read
McIntyre isn't the only woman to share the benefits of being a younger grandparent, earlier this year Ruth Clayton, from Lincoln described the benefits of becoming a grandmother in her early thirties.
Having welcomed her daughter at 15 Clayton, went on to become a grandmother at age 33, making her one of the UK’s youngest grandmothers.
She gave birth to her daughter Rose in 2005 when she was at school, with Rose then going on to give birth to her own daughter last year, making Clayton a grandmother.
"To be a grandma at 33 means I will be around for such a long time. It is going to be amazing – I feel very lucky."
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average age someone becomes a grandparent in the UK is 63. The same research found that the average age a woman has her second child is 31, and peak happiness occurs between the ages of 65 and 74.
The title of Britain’s youngest grandmother is currently held by Kelly Healey, who became a grandmother at just 30 years old in 2018.
Healey fell pregnant with her daughter Skye when she was just 15 years old, and Skye fell pregnant when she was just 13.
Additional reporting Caters.
