When is the Right Time to Have a Child?

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There are lots of things that are easy to decide on, but getting pregnant and having a baby is not one of them. A lot of people, especially women, are asking about the right age to have a child. 

Every woman has a different body type and each has different circumstances in life. There are those who want to focus more on their career and delay pregnancy as much as possible, but we all know that women are not fertile forever. It may be a hard pill to swallow but understanding your fertility can help you decide the next stage of your life. 

The right age to have a baby

Women are born with 1 to 2 million eggs, according to ACOG or American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Your egg count declines with age, but as soon as you hit puberty and you start menstruating and releasing eggs, you can get pregnant fast. These can happen from ages 10 to 14, according to NIH or the National Institutes of Health.

Experts say that a woman's fertility will slowly start to decline at the age of 32, and it declines faster once a woman reaches the age of 37. A woman's body is very fertile when they are in their teens. But just because your body is ready to have a baby, it does not mean that you should. There are a lot of factors that you need to consider before having a child, such as your emotional health, your overall health, and your financial stability. According to the CDC or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these factors are often overlooked by teen moms.

If we take everything into consideration, the best age to get pregnant is in your twenties. By then, your body is mature enough to carry a child and the chances of you being emotionally, mentally and financially stable are very high. 

There are women who do not want to have a baby while they are in their 20s as most women nowadays see it as the time when they should focus on their careers and themselves. However, there are studies that found that women who are in their late thirties are 50% less likely to get pregnant, even during their most fertile days, compared to women in their 20s. 

The IVF solution

What if you realized that you want to have a baby later in life, is it too late? It is true that the older you get, the more difficult it is to get pregnant, but do not lose hope. OB-GYNs are now offering IVF or in vitro fertilization to their patients who are finding it difficult to conceive a child. 

Because of this technology, women in their 40s and 50s can still get pregnant. But keep in mind that IVF is expensive, it can run from $13,000 to $15,000, so this option should only be taken depending on your financial situation.

The bottom line is, having a child is not mandatory as a woman, it is a choice and there are a lot of things that you need to consider before you bring a child into this world. There is no "right" age to have a child because every woman has a different life and is in a different circumstance. Think about what you feel and what works best for you.  

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