[Bacchus]

The Atlantic, continuing in its tradition of trolling, has published an article about female fertility.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arch..._page=true

The author handpicks some studies that show that 40 is the turning point for women, and that before that, absent some other problem, women 35+ can conceive naturally if they have sex on their most fertile days. Here's the author's conclusion about female fertility based on those studies.

Quote:

The data, imperfect as they are, suggest two conclusions. No. 1: fertility declines with age. No. 2, and much more relevant: the vast majority of women in their late 30s will be able to get pregnant on their own. The bottom line for women, in my view, is: plan to have your last child by the time you turn 40. Beyond that, you’re rolling the dice, though they may still come up in your favor.

40 as the turning point? It flies in the face of common sense. She's condemning her careerist cohort to a childless existence, although, for now, they can breathe easily with her reassurance about being able to conceive.

The author closes her article with the following anecdote.

Quote:

I wish I had known all this back in the spring of 2002, when the media coverage of age and infertility was deafening. I did, though, find some relief from the smart women of Saturday Night Live.

“According to author Sylvia Hewlett, career women shouldn’t wait to have babies, because our fertility takes a steep drop-off after age 27,” Tina Fey said during a “Weekend Update” sketch. “And Sylvia’s right; I definitely should have had a baby when I was 27, living in Chicago over a biker bar, pulling down a cool $12,000 a year. That would have worked out great.” Rachel Dratch said, “Yeah. Sylvia, um, thanks for reminding me that I have to hurry up and have a baby. Uh, me and my four cats will get right on that.”

“My neighbor has this adorable, cute little Chinese baby that speaks Italian,” noted Amy Poehler. “So, you know, I’ll just buy one of those.” Maya Rudolph rounded out the rant: “Yeah, Sylvia, maybe your next book should tell men our age to stop playing Grand Theft Auto III and holding out for the chick from Alias.” (“You’re not gonna get the chick from Alias,” Fey advised.)

Eleven years later, these four women have eight children among them, all but one born when they were older than 35. It’s good to be right.

This is the argument of the whole article- I (and some celebrities) had a baby after 35, and so can you! I'm sure she is happy to have children instead of resigning herself to a life of cats with her boring husband. But she was lucky. Not all women are going to have the same experience as her. Recommending that women can delay pregnancy until almost 40 will likely result in heartbreak and cats for the women who trust her advice.

It would be like writing an article entitled "I Turned My Humanities Degree into a $200k Job Fresh out of College." Sure, it can happen, but is it the norm?

[Days of Broken Arrows]

I agree with the general gist of things here, but made some minor additions to further clarify their points. My comments are in bold.

"The data, imperfect as they are, suggest two conclusions. No. 1: fertility declines with age. No. 2, and much more relevant: the vast majority of women in their late 30s will be able to get pregnant on their own and have kids with Downs Syndrome, physical and mental disabilities, autism, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia -- the latter three being a big possibility since these are caused by older men and most husbands are older than wives.

The bottom line for women, in my view, is: plan to have your last child by the time you turn 40 so you can be sure your kids lives in their twenties won't be spent on careers or fun but instead consist of providing "eldercare" for you and your failing health. Beyond that, you’re rolling the dice, though they may still come up in your favor if you don't mind pushing around kids in wheelchairs instead of strollers or looking like grandparents at high school graduation, if there is one."

[BortimusPrime]

But autistic children are soooo trendy right now!