How society's move away from monogamy may be damaging our ability to have children, and why women should consider taking a career break to start their family.
According to Bill Ledger, an infertility expert in the UK, the current rate of infertile couples could double from one in six to one in three within the next few years.
He blames the increasing rate of sexually transmitted infections and the fact that people have more sexual partners in a lifetime than in previous generations. The STI Chlamydia has doubled in incidence over the last 10 years. He also thinks obesity and diet play a role in our diminishing fertility, as does the fact that women are often choosing their career over starting a family.
In previous decades, most women would have their first child in their early to mid twenties. Nowadays the average first time mother is 35. Aside from the increased risk of chromosomal abnormalities in babies born to mothers of this age, it is actually much harder to get pregnant in the first place.
"Women are simply not as fertile after 35," Professor Ledger said.
Dr Allen Pacey, from the British Fertility Society, said ‘"Nature designed women to have children in probably their late teens and early twenties, and many women are now waiting until they are over 35.
"The message has to be driven home that the sooner you do it, the more likely it is you will be able to conceive without medical assistance." (As seen on BBC News).
Some other European countries such as France have already introduced a tax relief system for women who choose to have children earlier, to encourage women to take career breaks and have children while they are still physically able, and the UK has been urged to follow this same protocol.
I personally believe that maternity leave should be granted for longer periods of time that the benefit paid should be higher and that work places should be more family friendly, so that women won’t feel they are damaging their careers by having children earlier. There should be more flexi jobs where the hours aren’t fixed, more on site crèche facilities and an encouragement of breast feeding in the workplace, such as allowing breaks to breast feed a baby or express milk.
As for sexually transmitted infections, I believe we as a society have done this to ourselves. Marriage used to be the foundation of family life. Now, with the rampant divorce rate approaching half, and better contraceptive measures, we have a ‘throw away’ attitude towards people and sex. While partners are thought of as disposable and sex is purely a ‘fun’ activity, infections which threaten our lives, our health, our fertility and our future generations are bound to escalate. Some might call me old fashioned, but the evidence is clear from what I see.
