This Is the “Perfect” Age to Have a Baby, According to Science

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Deciding if and when you’re ready to become a parent can be challenging. It can feel like no time is the exact right time until it happens. While the answer is ultimately different for everyone, there is apparently an age that research has found to be the best.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there is an ideal time in your life to get pregnant and that is up until age 32. A recent piece on the perfect age for everything, from marriage and pregnancy to getting a cell phone and making financial decisions, explained that the most fertile time in a woman’s life was before the age of 32. Getting pregnant before this age makes it the most successful time for conception. Research collected by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists concluded that 32 is the age when fertility begins to decline.

That number doesn’t necessarily ring true with what is actually happening in the US, with the average age of women giving birth to their first baby steadily on the rise. In 2016, for the first time in history, the CDC reported more American women were becoming pregnant in their 30s than in the their 20s.

What do you think is the ideal age to start a family? Share your thoughts in the comments.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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