There is an article in the New Scientist today detailing a newish technique to preserve women’s eggs by freezing to extend their fertility. There is a little doubt as to the safety of the technique but apparently there is no evidence that gives cause for concern. But the most interesting quote is from Gillian Lockwood:
The idea that healthy women should be able to control their own reproduction still frightens people," she says. "It was the same when the pill was introduced - people feared that the whole moral fibre of society would break down if women were freed from unwanted pregnancies.
A.,
ReplyDeleteI think it's as much or more a matter of going against people's perceptions of what women of a certain age should be doing. If you're in your fifties, you should be cuddling grandchildren and not your own newborn (see Figs' post on senior sex!)
I had my first child one month before my thirty-first birthday, and three more after that. Frankly, and this is based solely on my own experience, I think that bearing and raising children is a younger woman's game. Even just the physical demands of a newborn and young child are more difficult to cope with as you get older - and the physical demands are the easiest! Now that I have reached my fifties, whatever 'maternal instinct' I had has pretty much disappeared, and I can't imagine having a baby.
But, as the intent was for 'primagravida', I recognize that for some or maybe even many women, this might be considered a good time in their lives to start.
I agree entirely janeway. I cannot imagine anything at all could persuade me that it would be a good idea to have a baby at this stage in my life. The reason I am interested in the subject at all is that my sons are both with partners who are older than they are and one at least feels the clock is ticking.
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