The increasing trend of middle-aged motherhood has sparked a lot of discussion prompting questions like how one really knows if they want to have kids? Do your ovaries start aching? Does the sight of a small child make you weep? Do you start hallucinating dancing babies like on Ally McBeal? Or do you just wake up one day and realize you want to be a parent? While for some people, the answer might be obvious, for others like myself, it’s not that simple. In my 20s and early 30s, motherhood was never a serious consideration. It was only after crossing the “fertility milestone” age of 35 that I became anxious about starting a family. Finally, after considerable deliberation, my wife and I became parents in our late 30s.
I’m certainly not alone in choosing to become a parent later in life. In developed countries, older mothers are becoming increasingly common. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that birth rates among women aged 40-44 have increased by 4% with the number of births rising by 6% since 2021. Birth rates among women aged 45 and older have surged by 12% since 2021. Assisted reproductive technology’s growing sophistication means that these figures are likely to continue to rise significantly. Perhaps, eventually, having kids past the age of 40 will cease to be a big deal altogether.
While maternal risks may increase with age, these are widely known and don’t need reiteration. Turning 35, for instance, is regarded as a significant milestone, signaling a decline in fertility and an increased risk of giving birth to babies with a higher likelihood of health issues. There can also be guilt attached to attempting to conceive at an “advanced maternal age,” with many people telling you not to delay starting a family. However, I’m grateful that I decided to wait until I was ready to become a parent. I’m not saying that older mothers make better parents. Still, research shows that they tend to punish and scold their children less, leading to fewer emotional, social, and behavioral issues in their kids.
We need to have more conversations about the advantages of motherhood at an older age and stop blaming women for deferring parenthood. Policymakers and politicians need to acknowledge that making parenthood so expensive is responsible for forcing many people to delay.
A Chinese barbecue restaurant’s advertisement of a scantily clad woman with a handwritten slogan, “get drunk to give him a chance,” has caused outrage and reignited a debate on gender discrimination in China. There have been other instances of questionable gender-related advertising in China, like Procter & Gamble’s controversial Chinese ad campaign that claimed women’s feet smell five times more than men’s.
Sexism continues unabated in the gaming industry, with not a single woman taking the stage at the Summer Game Fest, a significant video game event. Thankfully, Qantas has updated its uniform standards and grooming requirements, but the fact that such changes had to be made is telling. The airline has allowed its male cabin crew to wear makeup and its female colleagues to wear comfortable shoes, allowing them to kick off the high heels.
A crocodile at a zoo has become the first of her species to impregnate herself, leading to a virgin birth. The DNA of the fetus inside her was 99.9% identical to the mother. While this is the first documented case of self-impregnation in crocodiles, virgin births have been reported in birds, snakes, and fish.
A recent study shows that women face 30 biases that hold them back at work despite their qualification, intelligence, or talent. The research indicates that there is always something about women that never seems to be right. The pay gap persists, with women in America collectively losing out on $61tn in wages due to unequal pay since 1967.
The National Eating Disorder Association has come under scrutiny after firing all its staff, who had just unionized, and replacing them with a chatbot called Tessa. However, the chatbot is causing more harm than good, with some activists claiming that the suggested solutions only exacerbate the issue.
Interestingly, scientists have discovered a new, hi-tech birth control technique for cats, which involves a one-time injection of gene therapy. Currently, sterilizing a cat is time-consuming and surgically invasive. This could be a boon for managing feral cat populations, which are notorious for killing around 2.4 billion birds in the US annually. While the feline population will have more advanced birth control options in the future, women still struggle for access to adequate reproductive health care.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
