“The clock is ticking”: Why this myth must finally come to an end

The end of fertility?
Why we finally have to stop talking about the ticking clock

The fact is: fertility decreases with every year of life of a woman of childbearing potential. But: It does not stop suddenly with a certain age, the egg supply and the quality of the eggs are different for every woman. So it is quite possible to get pregnant naturally at the age of 39 – just not for all women.

Two more years: The fertile phase of women is now 37.1 years

Scientists have now established that the magical limit of 35 years has long been exceeded. The journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a comprehensive study that found a prolonged period of fearfulness.

The results show a shift in fertility. Over the decades, women got younger when they had their first menstrual period and older when they started menopause. The overall result was a “reproductive life span” of 37.1 years. So women have two more years to think about having their offspring.

Women always have their first child later

The results thus reflect the changes in society. The average age of women with their first child was 30.2 years in 2019. For comparison: in 1980 the age of a mother with her first child was 25.2 years in West Germany and 22.1 years in East Germany.

Numbers upon numbers that trigger only one thing in many women: stress, pressure and fear of failure. Exactly the wrong powers when it comes to fulfilling the desire to have children. Even if scientists have now found out that the fertile phase lasts two years longer, nobody should be unsettled by a magical limit – the body does not completely stop functioning on day X.

The biological clock in relation to fertility is a myth

What many do not know: The often quoted sentence “And? Can you hear the biological clock ticking?” is a construct, a social norm, which has consolidated over time and is difficult to remove from our minds. Even little girls are shown the image of their own family as the optimum in life.

The purpose of every woman’s life is to have a family and have children. For women it is even a natural need to want to have children – the famous watch will show them at some point. Drum roll! This biological clock does not exist, or it does not relate to having children, but actually only determines our daily rhythm – when do we get up, when do we get tired.

Everyone should ask themselves: Do I even want to have children?

So if you don’t hear the ticking, you can lean back and relax. Women have been taught for years that they have an expiration date attached to them once they have their first menstrual period. A best before date issued by the Patriarchate.

The most important thing is to question yourself: Do I even want to have children? As long as this answer is not simply “yes”, you should take some time with having children or let it go completely in the short or long term. Everyone has the right to their own model of life according to his or her own rules. It doesn’t matter whether the parents or in-laws would really like to have grandchildren or whether various friends are pregnant – only you count.

Sources used: destatis.de, bpb.de, tk.de, ctvnews.ca

Brigitte