BMJ 1995;311:1585-1586 (16 December)

Editorials

Delayed childbearing

Fertility declines at 30 and is almost gone by 40

Women perform best at childbearing when they are young, just as they do in gymnastics and marathon running. Aristotle recommended that "marriage be set for girls at 18, for men at 37 or somewhat less" because these were the ages thought to produce the finest children. In the days when life expectancy was low, it was clearly prudent to begin a family while still young. But the price of early marriage was usually a train of pregnancies that did not halt until infertility, menopause, or death intervened. With the advent of efficient contraception, we became biologically a new breed. Women could choose whether to have children--and when.

For the first time in recorded history, the number of births for every thousand British women in their early 30s has recently exceeded that in women in their early 20s. The rate in . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Astolfi, P., De Pasquale, A., Zonta, L.A. (2004). Late paternity and stillbirth risk. Hum Reprod 19: 2497-2501 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • De La Rochebrochard, E., Mcelreavey, K., Thonneau, P. (2003). Paternal Age Over 40 Years: The "Amber Light" in the Reproductive Life of Men?. J Androl 24: 459-465 [Full text]  
  • Astolfi, P., Ulizzi, L., Zonta, L.A. (1999). Selective cost of delayed childbearing. Hum Reprod 14: 572B-573B [Full text]  
  • Cooper, C. (1996). Fertility continues after age 40. BMJ 312: 975b-975 [Full text]  
  • Wing, L. (1996). Autistic spectrum disorders. BMJ 312: 327-328 [Full text]  
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