Having Children Later in Life Essay Example

In today’s society, having children later in life has been an ongoing trend amongst many people. Accordingly, this has sparked controversy over its societal and familial impacts and raised questions regarding its causes. In this essay, I shall state the reasons and effects of this seemingly ubiquitous trend.

To begin, there are numerous contributing factors to this trend. Firstly, such development stems from people becoming more aware of the detrimental effects of having children prematurely. For example, most Instagram, Facebook and Twitter users are constantly inundated with stories about the troubles of early parenthood namely financial burdens, physical and mental torment, which can effectively instill the preconception that early parenthood is often agonizing and anguished. Consequently, people are now straying away from having children in their teenage and adult years. Secondly, people are often reluctant to relinquish their early adulthood to care for children. Should parents spend their early adulthood taking care of an infant, they most likely will bear resentment and regret towards their children later on as they have never truly relished their youths.

There are numerous societal and familial impacts of having children later in life. Later parenthood can give rise to higher risks of miscarriage. Advanced maternal age can undoubtedly increase the chances of an arduous delivery and potential miscarriage, which can take its toll on the family and the mother involved. Furthermore, miscarriages can hinder a country’s social development as a whole. Due to the declining birth rates, some countries are now facing the threat of population aging and even extinction, which can effectively obstruct global progression. That being said, most older mothers are often partnered or married so they can better equip their children with financial and emotional support as well as mental security. This can attribute to a well-rounded person, a healthy familial bond, and can even help children become excellent citizens for society later in life.

To conclude, I believe the causes of having children at an advanced age are higher awareness of the potential detriments of early parenthood and reluctance to give up their early adulthood. This development has negative implications namely higher risks of miscarriage and hindrance to societal progression but the positive impacts such as enabling children to be competent citizens and establishing strong familial bonds cannot be ignored.