Past it at 23, if you want a family. ( Archived) (22)

Another day, another scientific report about how we’ve all left it too late to have children – or at least more than one, anyway.


New advice suggests that women who’re hoping to have a big family should start trying for their first child at the age of 23 – before most of us even have got our careers on track or found someone serious to get pregnant with.


Scientists looked at fertility data from almost 60,000 women to create an at-a-glance calculator that advises ladies on when you should pregnant. In an ideal world, obviously.
The computer model, published by New Scientist, gives couples an idea of when to start trying for a baby, depending on how many children they would like to have.
Basically, if you’re over the age of 23 and hoping to have more than two kids then you may have a tough time conceiving all three naturally.



As a woman
ages, her ferility chances decreases making it harder to conceive naturally. [Photo: Rex]A woman’s chances are measured in percentages, showing that a 23-year-old woman has a 90 per cent chance of having three children without IVF. At the age of 31, this figure declines to 75 per cent and aged 35 things look even bleaker, with just a 50 per cent of getting pregnant three times naturally.

If you’re happy with just two children, things look slightly better. According to the calculator, you can wait until you’re 27 to start your family and still have a 90 per cent chance of conceiving naturally. At 34 years old, you’ll still be in with a 75 per cent and aged 38 you’ll have 50 per cent chance of getting pregnant without IVF intervention.
Those hoping for one child have the best odds, unsurprisingly. A 32-year-old woman has a 90 per cent chance of conceiving without IVF, a 37-year-old has a 75 per cent chance and a 41-year-old woman is 50 per cent likely to have a baby naturally.

Easier said than done
The chart also shows how IVF can increase a woman’s chance of getting pregnant – but of course there are a number of risks and side effects that come with IVF, such as ectopic birth, multiple births and Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, a rare complication associated with IVF.

Fertility experts reckon the table should be shown to sixth formers and uni students so that they’re aware of the risks of putting their career first.
“We haven’t got a time machine we can put people in… that’s just a blunt reality,” says professor Allan Pacey, a Sheffield University fertility expert.

“Everyone thinks you can wait – this shows you can’t.”

Ref New Scientist.
Do you think there’s too much conflicting advice on when women should start a family?

I see your point Tru, it seems unfair we can go on making babies ad infinitum.

But it's not really a question of law , it's the medical facts, and I am not responsible for that

I didn't read the post (too long ), and I am sure there is a 'perfect ' age to have kids, but the fact remains that women can have kids when she is double that age.

Most people aren't mature enough, or ready enough, to have their kids in their early 20s.

I believe a man or a woman before start having children should go and
see new horizons, I mean other country than theirs, then after that they can have all the children they want