Want a little nugget of information to send you into a reproductive state of panic?
Some researchers (with a lot of time on their hands) have now designed a computer program that will let you know exactly when to start making babies depending on the total number of children that you want.
Yup, that’s right. There is an optimum age to get cracking with the baby making, and this computer program has logged over 300 years worth of fertility data to let you know just when that age is.
Curious what it says?
If you’re looking to just have the one child, you’ve got until you’re 32 to start as you’ll have a 90 percent chance of conceiving naturally at this point. But if you are picturing yourself as a mama-of-three, then – according to the program’s data – you’d better start at the ripe old age of… 23.
Yes, really.
This is what Dik Habbema from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, one of the brains behind the project had to say:
“We have tried to fill a missing link in the decision-making process,” Habbema explains. “My son is 35 and many of his friends have a problem deciding when to have children because there are so many things they want to do.”
According to Habbema, the computer calculates the age based on the premise that couples will wait at least 15 months after a birth to start trying for another one – which, of course, may or certainly may not be the point for some.
And while this program might be a little extreme, not taking into account whether or not you are emotionally or indeed financially ready at 23, no matter how badly you picture your future with three kids in it, many fertility experts agree that young people need to made more aware of their fertility and the reality of what putting off parenthood could mean.
This is what Dr Allan Pacey from the University of Sheffield had to say to Marie Claire: “What the computer program is saying is that if you’re relaxed about having three children, you can wait until you’re 35, but you’ve got to start early to be certain.”
However, Pacey is also keen to stress the need about making fertility a topic of discussion and awareness.
“The table ought to be photocopied and put up on clinic walls. We should also be aiming this at sixth former and university students so that they’re aware of how to plan their life. We haven’t got a time machine we can put people in… that’s just a blunt reality. Everyone thinks they can wait – this shows that you can’t.”
What do YOU think, guys? Do these figure stress you out? Or does it make sense?
