Shelf Life of Women?

[ZTAngel]

Originally Posted by James

I guess this question would be directed at AKA_monet and others with medical training, but at what age does reproductive ability for women begin to decline?

At what age are women at their reproductive peaks?

Peak is early 20s. The decline begins at age 27. There was some article in Time Magazine about it a few years ago. I should know...my mother sent the article to me in the mail with a little post-it on it that read, "Just so you know, I want grandkids. Love, mom."

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

Peak is early 20s. The decline begins at age 27. There was some article in Time Magazine about it a few years ago. I should know...my mother sent the article to me in the mail with a little post-it on it that read, "Just so you know, I want grandkids. Love, mom."

That's subtle...

[James]

No pressure or anything. lol

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

Peak is early 20s. The decline begins at age 27. There was some article in Time Magazine about it a few years ago. I should know...my mother sent the article to me in the mail with a little post-it on it that read, "Just so you know, I want grandkids. Love, mom."

[Munchkin03]

I've been reading a lot about reproductive technology, and this seems to be the basic jist:

18-25: the "peak" of fertility
25-29: a small decline in fertility, but the odds are still greatly in your favor to conceive naturally within a year
29-35: fertility stays stable
35-40: steep decline in fertility
40-up: small chance of conceiving your first child naturally at this age

It seems to be that if you start having kids earlier rather than later, you can continue to have children much later. The women in my family have had kids up into their 40s, but they started around 25-26. The ones who start trying at 35 or older seem to have the most problems.

I won't lie, this is all kind of scary to me. I'd like to start a family sooner rather than later for a few reasons (health, energy, and I'd actually like my kids to have grandparents who can hang out with them), but there might be a lot of hysteria on both sides.

[bluefish81]

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

Peak is early 20s. The decline begins at age 27. There was some article in Time Magazine about it a few years ago. I should know...my mother sent the article to me in the mail with a little post-it on it that read, "Just so you know, I want grandkids. Love, mom."

Does she know my mom? Are they hanging out getting coffee together comparing notes and ideas? Everytime I talk to my mom I swear she asks me if I'm seeing anyone. Have I met a nice guy yet? Geesh leave it alone...

Originally Posted by fantASTic

It is generally accepted that once a woman hits 30, she needs to seriously consider either having children immediately or [in today's world] freezing her eggs as the ability of the body to spontaneously abort eggs with 'problems' is much less accurate.

Hmm...my mom didn't do this and it seem to work out okay back in the 70s. This is also why I find the above comments she (my mom) makes so annoying. She didn't meet my dad til she was 30, married at 31. Had my sister at 33 and had me at 38. I've yet to hit any of those ages yet.