Trying to decide if you want kids? Relax, your eggs are already dead
Image by Ed Yourdon via Flickr
Well, happy Friday to you! A chipper new study reveals that the wombs of those of us over 30 are already practically eggless. Oh, and, by the way, “women who put off childbearing for too long could have difficulty ever conceiving.”
The study published by the University of St. Andrews and Edinburgh University in Scotland found that women have lost 90 percent of their eggs by the time they are 30 years old, and only have about 3 percent remaining by the time they are 40.
I guess that means that the thirtysomethings among us who’ve been carefully avoiding unplanned pregnancy for years should just chill. And also, if you’re 29 and you’ve been thinking long and hard about what kind of mom you’d be, whether you have the financial resources and/or partner stability to have a baby, or even whether you should really bring a child into the world in this day and age, stop your dilly-dallying and get to it!
As Good Morning America’s medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard so helpfully points out, “That biological clock does tick.”
Maybe it just galls me because I’m about to turn 34. But is this a warning we ladies really need?
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
Ladies and Gentlemen, consider this: it’s not just a matter of having the baby in your mid to late 30’s, but caring for an active teen well in to your 50’s.
I’ll be in that situation myself, and the older I get the more worrisome that notion gets.
Maybe I’m crazy but I feel like the 50s are still on the young side. And hanging with a teen in your 50s will keep you young, while having a baby when you’re 20 will age you before your time. Maybe?
You are most certainly not crazy Jen.
As often as possible, i try to glean bits of wisdom from my vital, active 96 y/o grandma, who had her last child when she was approx. 38.
Please allow me to paraphrase how i can be almost certain she would respond to this study presented by GMA’s resident ‘medical expert’.
‘Follow your heart. You get one life and it belongs to You; and never, ever listen to talking egg-heads that tell you what you can and cannot do.’
In response to another comment. See in context »Thank you Andy. I’ve never met her but I adore your grandma!
In response to another comment. See in context »It is a sad fact that biology trumps desire, i.e. desire for a kid at 38 or 45 or 53, or whenever the Hollywood celebs are having them. I attended an infertility conference a few years ago and there was no sugar-coating what every doctor said — over 40 it gets much, much more difficult, and starts even earlier if you don’t start trying in time to discover what might be problematic in time to address it.
No one wants to hear it. No one wants to be rushed into marriage or motherhood, but if your deepest wish is to bear a child, you may have to front-burner the whole thing. Sorry.
Wow.. life doesn’t always work out the way you might like to plan it Caitlin. Some of us just have to do the best with what circumstances we’ve got. In the case of my Grandma, during her ‘most fertile years’ her husband was kind of busy serving in that pesky WWII.
Thank God – for several dozen of my family members wouldn’t be alive today – that there weren’t naysayers like you telling her when it’s ok to conceive!
In response to another comment. See in context »I’ve been thinking about what really bugs me about the female fertility message. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not the actual lack of fertility after a certain age – I mean, that sucks, but it’s something I’ve been fully aware of for a long time. What irritates me is how these studies crop up at least once a year to REMIND us. Hey ladies, you think you can have it all? Well, you can’t! Na na na na boo-boo.
Most women I know are keenly aware, especially if single and over 30, that their childbearing years have an end-date. It colors how they date, why they date, who they date, and if they date … we haven’t forgotten, trust me, whether we know we want kids or not. So why do scientists persist in constantly reminding us that our egg-days are numbered? It’s just … mean! And where are all the studies reminding older men that their sperm may not be swimming as fast as they used to, for that matter, so maybe they should actually get serious and start a family?
In response to another comment. See in context »Just tune out those scientists sweetie… they’ve spent so much time worrying about Darwin’s theory of natural selection that they’ve become obsessed with trying to convince the more educated women in society (who tend to wait longer to have children) to have more children to offset the mass production of babies among ‘the rabble’.
Don’t quote me on that – it’s just a hunch – but i have spent an inordinate amount of time among academic types and have heard the same concerns on more than a few occasions.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by True/Slant, YUD and Tweets Tube, Tweets Tube. Tweets Tube said: Trying to decide if you want kids? Relax, your eggs are already dead http://bit.ly/bEpmzr [...]
[...] ya’all! I feel kinda old school this Monday. Why, I have no idea—old eggs maybe?—but a fact’s a fact. And the soundtrack to my rather old-school day today seems to be, [...]
[...] Jen Doll wrote this about the new study… A chipper new study reveals that the wombs of those of us over 30 are already practically eggless. Oh, and, by the way, “women who put off childbearing for too long could have difficulty ever conceiving.” . . . I guess that means that the thirtysomethings among us who’ve been carefully avoiding unplanned pregnancy for years should just chill. And also, if you’re 29 and you’ve been thinking long and hard about what kind of mom you’d be, whether you have the financial resources and/or partner stability to have a baby, or even whether you should really bring a child into the world in this day and age, stop your dilly-dallying and get to it! [...]
[...] Jen Doll wrote this about the new study… A chipper new study reveals that the wombs of those of us over 30 are already practically eggless. Oh, and, by the way, “women who put off childbearing for too long could have difficulty ever conceiving.” . . . I guess that means that the thirtysomethings among us who’ve been carefully avoiding unplanned pregnancy for years should just chill. And also, if you’re 29 and you’ve been thinking long and hard about what kind of mom you’d be, whether you have the financial resources and/or partner stability to have a baby, or even whether you should really bring a child into the world in this day and age, stop your dilly-dallying and get to it! [...]
[...] Jen Doll wrote this about the new study… A chipper new study reveals that the wombs of those of us over 30 are already practically eggless. Oh, and, by the way, “women who put off childbearing for too long could have difficulty ever conceiving.” . . . I guess that means that the thirtysomethings among us who’ve been carefully avoiding unplanned pregnancy for years should just chill. And also, if you’re 29 and you’ve been thinking long and hard about what kind of mom you’d be, whether you have the financial resources and/or partner stability to have a baby, or even whether you should really bring a child into the world in this day and age, stop your dilly-dallying and get to it! [...]
[...] Playground in New York County, NY." It was also published in a Jan 29, 2010 blog titled "Trying to decide if you want kids? Relax, your eggs are already dead." And it was published in a Feb 20, 2010 Order the pill blog, with the same title as the [...]
[...] Playground in New York County, NY." It was also published in a Jan 29, 2010 blog titled "Trying to decide if you want kids? Relax, your eggs are already dead." And it was published in a Feb 20, 2010 Order the pill blog, with the same title as the [...]
[...] Playground in New York County, NY." It was also published in a Jan 29, 2010 blog titled "Trying to decide if you want kids? Relax, your eggs are already dead." And it was published in a Feb 20, 2010 Order the pill blog, with the same title as the [...]