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Reprogen-ethics and the future of gender pp 105–117Cite as

Between Fecklessness and Selfishness: Is There a Biologically Optimal Time for Motherhood?

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Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 43))

In 2005 a group of fertility experts published an editorial in the British Medical Journal warning of an ‘epidemic’ of older (post 35) mothers in the UK and other Western countries. The authors urged women to have their children at the biologically optimal age (between 20 and 35) and stressed the severe medical, social and economic costs of later reproduction [1]. Public awareness of the trend towards older motherhood has been increasingly reflected in the media. In 2006, an article in The Times declared: ‘Late motherhood as big a problem as teenage mums’ [2]. In his exploration of the phenomenon, Daniel Callahan suggests that in fact throughout the developed world, there is a growing tendency for women to reproduce later in life, and he warns of the ‘significant health and other threats’ that this poses to mothers and children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, UK

    Anna Smajdor

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  1. Anna Smajdor
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Correspondence to Anna Smajdor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yezreel Valley College, D.N. Emek Yezreel 19300, Israel

    Frida Simonstein

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Smajdor, A. (2009). Between Fecklessness and Selfishness: Is There a Biologically Optimal Time for Motherhood?. In: Simonstein, F. (eds) Reprogen-ethics and the future of gender. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 43. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2475-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2475-6_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2474-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2475-6

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