Pregnancy and motherhood: The biological clock

Among women of reproductive age, having children and careers often collide. As many men and women pursue careers, many have doubts as to when and whether they want to have children. At issue is combining childrearing with educational-professional development and accepting the loss of personal freedom that comes with building a family. These men and women are falsely reassured by popular beliefs that steroid contraception delays reproductive aging and that advances in new reproductive technologies can compensate for the age-related decline in fertility. As a result, women and their partners postpone childbearing without fully understanding the possible consequences. Yet age is the single most important determinant of male and female fertility—natural or treated.