Questioning the Construction of Maternal Age as a Fertility Problem

Abstract

The belief that fertility problems derive from maternal age, increasing markedly at 35, reflects social constructions of biology in developed nations. These constructions perpetuate a negative view of female aging. However, research since 1985 can be interpreted to suggest that there is no, or minimal, association between maternal age and problems associated with fertility. Differences in problems between pre- and postmaternal age 35 fertility can be explained by social conditions occurring with fertility, notably, parenting decisions, physical problems with the male and the potential child, and medical intervention. Once we look at fertility as a relationship among the woman, the man, and the potential child, rather than the woman only, we can see these factors. These components suggest that maternal age may be related only tangentially to successful fertility.

The experiences of pregnant women at an advanced maternal age: an integrative review

“…Numerous factors contribute to this scenario, such as women's stronger presence in the job market, an increase in education and career opportunities for women, and the development of reproductive medicine with regards to family planning and contraceptive methods (3)(4) . Maternal age is considered a risk factor for pregnancy.…”

‘We thought if it’s going to take two years then we need to start that now’: age, infertility risk and the timing of pregnancy in older first-time mothers

“…The factors included having no partner, pursuing a career or not being in a stable relationship, as noted in the Red Modern Motherhood Report (Red, 2012). Hanson (2003) further postulates that despite available evidence to suggest that maternal age is no more a factor for declining fertility than any other, the association is widely accepted because it taps into the negative view of female ageing that predominates in developed societies. In line with this, despite concerns over the increased risk of infertility associated with female ageing, in February 2010 the Family Planning Association (FPA) in the UK ran a Contraceptive Awareness Week, the aim of which was to raise awareness of the rate of unintended pregnancies in women over thirty-five and forty.…”

“…This means, that despite the impact of age upon fertility altering at an individual level, inevitably all women who sit within the category of over thirty-five are effectively 'tarred with the same brush' because a higher proportion of women in this age category report fertility problems. Although we do not wish to contest the medical literature that advancing maternal age is associated with female infertility, though others have (see Hanson, 2003), we believe it is important to illuminate the associated problems with applying such 'broad-brush' probabilistic models of risk management. Here we consider, the effects of such models on the decisions that women make regarding the timing of their pregnancies.…”

Older motherhood and the changing life course in the era of assisted reproductive technologies

“…During the 1920s in the United States, the average age at which a woman would have her last child was 42, an age that was increasingly deemed "too old" across the twentieth century and in the context of medical discourses on risks associated with older women's pregnancies (Neugarten 1972in Berry 1991. Across the twentieth century, older motherhood came to increasingly be defined as a medical problem through the argument that older maternal age poses risks to unborn fetuses (Berry 1991;Phoenix and Woollett 1991;Hanson 2003).…”

“…The course of life has been theorized as a cultural unit and a powerful collective symbol (Fry and Keith 1982;Fry 1990;Meyer 1988;Rubinstein 1990). Over the past thirty years expectations for the course of adult life have become less fixed at the same time that notions about a normative life course have increasingly been challenged (Hanson 2003;Featherstone and Hepworth 1991;Hepworth and Featherstone 1982). Although the contemporary Western conception of the life course as predictable, knowable, and continuous is a relatively recent phenomenon, during the late twentieth century the course of life became increasingly characterized by considerable shifts, primarily extensions and overlaps of various phases of life (Becker, 1997).…”