No, a woman’s fertility does not peak in her teens
Nothing sparked this, but as I am continually researching more into midwifery and women’s health, this is something I wanted to put out there for those debating the “right time” to have a kid. Any legal age from 18 to menopause is perfectly doable for women, but there are some misconceptions that people spread about teen and young adult fertility/pregnancy that I want to correct:
Before the age of 25, the major bones of the two hipbones (illium) of a woman’s pelvis is bonded together by cartilage. They do not fuse into bone until the midtwenties. In pregnancy for those under that age, mothers will need proper chiropractic care or other support, or face a lot of pain otherwise. This can be an obstacle if the mother has no health insurance, needs to work a lot on her feet, etc. We can help by advocating for better work environments, but sometimes this can not be avoided.
The woman’s menstrual cycle (and thus her fertility health) does not fully mature until 12 years after her first period. 5-7 years are for regulating estrogen (to ovulate regularly), and the last few years allow for progesterone production to optimize (the hormone produced after ovulation, that causes many health problems if not at proper levels). So if a girl has her period at, say, 8 years old, she will not have a mature hormonal cycle until she is 20 years old. Even then, starting your period that young is considered abnormal (12-14 is the normal average), and premature menstruation is a societal health concern that can increase a girl’s risk of breast cancer and other problems.
A woman’s fertility truly “peaks” around her late twenties. Even then, her fertility declines afterwards but very slowly so. It does not up and vanish after some arbitrary due date. Assuming a woman has no underlying conditions such as PCOS or endo (or is receiving helpful treatment for it if she does), and also assuming that she is living a healthy lifestyle and diet, she can still become pregnant even into her early forties. Each woman’s fertility and health is a unique case, and should be treated as such by her family and care provider when discussing family planning.
Much of the “infertility” crisis that “older” women are facing can be prevented and addressed through sufficient fertility awareness education, as well as targeting reproductive health issues when the woman is still a teen or young woman. If a woman in her thirties has endometriosis that her doctors never diagnosed until she began to try for a baby, it was her untreated endo that caused infertility, not her “selfish” motive to have a career first and delay childbearing. Women need better healthcare, not undue pressure to have kids when they are not ready. Obviously infertility is real and some women will need higher tech involvement to combat it, but I am merely saying that much of that use can be avoided (and save people MUCH money and emotional turmoil) with proper sex education and support.
Teen mothers are more likely to experience complications. Part of this is due to mistreatment and bias in the medical system, so addressing and remedying that through proper social awareness and support, such as hiring a doula, can help lower those complications; but it doesn’t help when you have a shitty OBGYN when your body is clearly struggling, and they refuse to give you an epidural, or to take your postpartum depression seriously. Teen mothers deserve our full support to keep themselves and their babies healthy, but we also have a duty to not mislead girls about their health and spread falsehoods about teen pregnancy.
It’s true that “no one is ever ready for parenthood”, but that doesn’t mean you jump into it without proper discernment and preparation. There are parenting classes, support groups, and even books that can help a person decide when and how to have kids, rather than force them to jump into it blindly and irresponsibly. Childrearing – from conception through pregnancy to birth throughout childhood – is a full time job, and one that needs to be respected as such. Women and men alike have a right to discern whether they should have children, and to be open to research and common sense knowledge about when the time is “right” for them. Pushing people to have kids when they are not fully mature or educated is unhelpful, and in some cases, can even be dangerous.
If someone is 18-24 years of age, they have every right to plan a family as a legal adult, I am not saying that no one in that age group should avoid having kids. But these people should do so with the full knowledge of the risks and drawbacks of doing so, and be prepared to handle them if they come up as a problem. I happily had my first pregnancy at 19 and do not regret it, but I do regret not knowing the things I know now. Had I known, my pregnancy and health experience would have been MUCH better, and prevented unneeded medical trauma that had occurred. The issues I faced were “normal” for a very young parent, but could have been lessened greatly has I simply been informed about it and knew about my options. This is something that the “teens are at their most fertile ever!!!” crowds do not ever talk about.
With all that said, people need to stop glamorizing teen fertility and pregnancy (the pre-18 kind). Not only is it setting these girls up to be vulnerable to toxic creeps/relationships, but giving false information about their health can prevent them from fully advocating for their options when pregnancy does occur (planned or unplanned). Teens CAN have a safe pregnancy, but only when they and their support team are fully informed of the facts; even then, the pregnancy should not occur in the first place, and I only share this tidbit here to make sure that I don’t demonize teen pregnancy when trying to prevent it’s romanticization.
Pregnancy and fertility should be respected as biological norms, as well as noble responsibilities, for women and girls, men and boys, instead of something that is hated and feared – and we can only do that once we share factual truth, instead of pedo-induced, psuedoscientific fantasy. Knowledge is Power, and it can help women safely plan their families at any age, or to take care of themselves properly should it happen too soon.
References for further reading:
Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
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