Monday, April 08, 2002

Resurrecting the Biological Clock

*sigh*

A rather depressing set of stories about women, aging and fertility at Time.com.

I am 31 -- so right at the edge of the slippery slope of "no chance in hell" of making babies with my ovum unless I get real busy real quick.

Like many of the women profiled by economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett in her book, Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children -- which is dealt with extensively by the Time spread -- I went off to college, worked very hard to establish a career, mushed through grad school and law school, and thought pregnancy would have been nothing but a life stopper during the process.

Unlike many of the women she profiles, I am merely at the edge of the slippery slope and a member of the target audience she and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine are hoping to warn.

Breed, breed! Breed now -- before it is too late!

Not likely.

Biological children have never been an ambition of mine. Dynastic urges and the resulting infants are nothing but trouble.

Adoption is a better choice.

I use my dog as an illustrative example. He was between two and three years old when he joined the household. I found him in a rescue situation and in a way we choose each other. Not that it wasn't rocky to begin with as most close relationships are, but since he was an older animal to start -- he never required the massive attention of a puppy and was trainable from the get go. Plus I have the bonus of knowing his life is very good now, when before it was abusive.

So adopting an older child whose chance of finding a good home was slim has always been my game plan for dealing with any maternal urges that might materialize in my future.

Then the Brits came up with an alternative that preserves the ability to change my mind, or not as I choose. True reproductive freedom that eliminates the incessant ticking of Hewlitt and her ilk.

What could this be? Freezing an ovary -- cold storage of eggs -- much like the bankability sperm has enjoyed.

Of course, if you read to the end of the BBC article, a working group is being formed to study the ethics of allowing women to use this process to delay pregnancy. Funny, but I don't recall any ethical quandary or furor over frozen spunk.

posted by Bohica at 10:13 AM