>An interesting article about women’s fertility was published in The Daily Telegraph, which was reproduced in Todayonline’s website (article below). It is about a scientific discovery why women in their latter years, especially after 30, find it more difficult to have babies. I would like to deviate from the scientific finding for the moment, and discuss about the social aspects of motherhood instead.
It would be a good time to make a comparison between young motherhood (as in teen motherhood) as practised in the Third World, as compared to delaying motherhood till as late as the thirties, as practised in the West and other developed countries (like Singapore). We will discuss the mentioned article above later.
First World / Third World Comparison-
The First World appears to bastadize young bride marriages, even calling it paedophelia. Anti-teen marriage proponents reason that these young brides do not have the ability to give consent as yet. Western media also talk a lot about how damaging it is to teen girls having babies at such an age. The whole idea appears to be painting young marriages as oppressive and against women’s rights. Of course, feminists would also jump on the bandwagon to add their bit.
However, truth is that those who campaign against young marriages in the Third World do not understand Third World needs and culture. To Third World citizens, the main source of income is agriculture. They need more hands to help out in the fields. The younger they have children, the better their lives would be. Those who call for the delay of marriages and having children are asking these people to put their security on hold. No different from telling First World inhabitants that you can only start saving for your retirement fund just a few years before your retirement!
Children are like a social security to these societies. The more you have, the higher the chances of you being well looked after in your old age. In developed countries, it is the opposite. The fewer children you have, the more you would have saved for your retirement fund.
To citizens of the developing countries, children are their future. To the citizens of developed countries, cash for your retirement is your future. We cannot impose our values on others because their lifestyle does not fit ours. Who are we to tell them what to do, let alone force them to follow us, which will not benefit them in any way?
Another factor that has to be considered is the mortality rate at birth. Infant mortality rate in the Third World is much higher than in the First World. We can afford to delay having children because our medical facilities are good. No mother in the First World plans to have five births, because she thinks that her chances of having two surviving children would be higher than having just three births. But that line of thinking exists in the Third World.
Hence, in order to have a higher number of births, so that you can have a higher number of surviving children, you need to marry young, and start giving birth young!
This is the very fundamental thinking of societies in the Third World pertaining to young motherhood, which the First World inhabitants do not seem to understand.
Because of the lack of understanding of the needs of the Third World families, proponents like Feminists, Human Rights Activists and what not, demonize and bastadize teen marriages and teen births. Such arrogance, ignorance and self-righteous attitude can only be found amongst those who feel they are superior to others.
But scientific findings vindicates this Third World Practice of young motherhood. Here is the article in full.
Women lose 90% of eggs by age 30
Quality of eggs also suffer with age, new study reports
by The Daily Telegraph
05:55 AM Feb 17, 2010
LONDON – Scientists have discovered the reason why women find it difficult to conceive later in life – they have used up about 90 per cent of their “ovarian reserve” by the age of 30.
While they may continue to produce eggs throughout their 30s and 40s, the reservoir of potential eggs from which they are taken has shrunk to almost nothing, it suggests.
As the body chooses the best eggs from the reserve, the likelihood is that the quality of the eggs will suffer as women get older, increasing the difficulty of conception and the risk of an unhealthy baby.
The new research by the University of St Andrews and Edinburgh University is the first to collate the actual decline of the “ovarian reserve” – the potential number of eggs women are born with – from conception to the menopause.
It shows that, on average, women are born with 300,000 potential egg cells but this pool declines at a much faster rate than first thought. By the age of 30, there is only 12 per cent left on average and by the age of 40 just 3 per cent.
The researchers said many women make the mistake of thinking that because they are still producing eggs, their fertility remains constant. But this new research shows that it declines rapidly.
Dr Hamish Wallace (Edinburgh), the co-author, said: “Our research shows that they are generally over-estimating their fertility prospects.
“Our model shows that for 95 per cent of women, by the age of 30 years, only 12 per cent of their maximum ovarian reserve is present, and by the age of 40 years only 3 per cent remains.”
The researchers also discovered for the first time that the number of eggs in the ovarian reserve peaks at about 20 weeks after conception – when the female embryo is still in her mother’s womb – and dwindles until menopause at the age of about 50.
They also found that the rate of recruitment of immature eggs towards mature eggs increases from birth until approximately 14 years of age, then drops off.
Co-author Tom Kelsey, of St Andrews University, was quoted by Britain’s The Daily Express newspaper as saying that was something they hadn’t seen before.
“We think there is some sort of hormonal explanation that during puberty, something switches and women start losing fertility at a different, faster rate,” he said.
The study collected information from 325 different women of different ages in the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe.
The research, published in the journal Public Library of Science One, also showed that there was an enormous difference between the size of individual women’s “ovarian reserve”. Some women had more than 2 million, while others had as little as 35,000.
The research is the latest to warn that women should not leave it too late to conceive. Women’s fertility declines substantially after the mid-30s but the speed of the drop differs for each individual.
Women’s fertility peaks at 14? If motherhood is all about procreation and starting a family, has not the Third World practice of young motherhood been complying to nature’s design, rather than the First World “we know all” practice of late motherhood?
It has been argued by many feminists, as well as some human rights activists, that teenage births in developing countries are damaging to these young girls. They argue it from a medical perspective that birth at such an age damages the girls’ health and well-being. I am not going to argue on that, because it is medically ascertained that there are risks to the teenage mother, as compared to a mother more senior in her years. The approach I am taking is that while teenage births has its negatives, so do older mothers giving birth.
Early Motherhood, bad for mother; Late Motherhood, bad for baby – your choice
The West and other developed countries see early motherhood from their perspective and their perspective only. To them, the woman reigns supreme, because it is her body. Never mind that what she does affects the child too – including abortion for the most flimsy reason. As such, self-preservation is the key here. Since early motherhood affects her health – and looks – late motherhood is preferred.
Those from the Third World on the other hand, go for early motherhood because that’s the time when the healthiest babies are produced. Today, we know that the later the birth, the higher the risk to the baby, especially if the mother is above 35, where the risk of having a Mongoloid baby increases exponentially.
It can be argued that while the First World mothers are skewed towards self-preservation, Third World mothers are more compassionate towards their offspring – a true representation of what MOTHERHOOD is all about, which entails self-sacrifice to ensure the well-being of her offspring.
Unfortunately, this uncorrupted motherly love that is so present in the Third World is so missing in the First World, where Feminism is dominant and Motherhood so neglected.
It is time that we pause and think for a moment. We have lived in a developed society for so long. Many pride that we have human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights and even animal rights in place.
But upon close examination, we are the arrogant ones looking down on the Third World, who have actually shown us what true love and compassion is. Like the ability to sacrifice yourself, so that your offspring is better off.
The Third World has that Motherly Love embedded in their society. First World inhabitants have not attained that stage.
Who’s the civilized and who’s the uncivilized?
