Procrastinating on Pregnancy: How Long Can Women Wait to Have a Baby?

Fertility does decline with age, but it’s not all bad news.

By Jeanne Erdmann
Apr 2, 2021 2:00 PM
infertile couple
(Credit: GoodStudio/Shutterstock)

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The whole concept of fertility, of deciding when you need to get pregnant, and then having it actually happen the way you planned, never quite worked for me.

I was single until age 34, and then we weren’t ready for a baby right away. We just timed my cycle, figuring if we got pregnant, fine. But the later the better. 

Then, a new gynecologist asked what I was using for contraception. I told her that I’d been using natural family planning — smug that I’d managed to make it work for more than a year.

“So, nothing,” she said. 

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