Do I Want a Baby?
The human body is programmed to reproduce in order to prevent extinction. Women’s bodies even have a special alert system, “the biological clock”, that can wreak havoc on the mind. Being mentally, emotionally, physically and financially prepared for motherhood are factors your body may or may not decide to ignore as you approach your thirties.
All women are born with a large, but limited number of eggs cells that slowly decreases during her lifetime. The average woman’s fertility peaks at 24. As her body ages, a woman’s chance of conceiving a child goes down, and the chance of a miscarriage or abnormal pregnancy go up. Menopause signals the end of the body’s reproductive function.
At ages 25–35, sex hormone levels in the female body are at their highest and the body is best suited to conceive and carry a child. During this period, a woman may experience a sudden, strong desire to have a baby, known as baby fever. The change can be quite drastic, and manifests as something akin to obsession.
Modern lifestyles have many other clocks ticking away—education, work, and social status often take priority over the biological preset and, thanks to various methods of contraception, a woman is able to enjoy a healthy sex life with a much smaller risk of pregnancy than ever before. She may even decide not to have children at all.
Although they are wonderful, magical beings that bring light and joy into the world, each of us has the right to choose for ourselves if we want to take on the responsibility of raising a child.
How can “baby fever” change a person? What are some of the more common reasons for not having children? Read a more detailed version of Do I Want a Baby? here.
