For women who want to have children, planning the right time is a difficult decision. In recent years, many women have opted to put off having kids until their late 20s and well into their 30s — focusing on finishing school, building their careers, traveling, and maybe even paying down their student loans before taking the leap into parenthood. Statistics show that women are waiting longer and longer to have kids — the current average age of first-time moms is up to 26.3, up from 24.9 just 15 years ago.
对于想要孩子的女性来说，合适的时间是一个艰难的决定。近年来，很多女性选择在20岁末甚至30多岁才要孩子，主要原因是她们忙于完成学业、发展职业生涯、旅行、甚至选择在为人父母之前偿还助学贷款。数据表明，女性的生育年龄越来越晚——生第一胎的平均年龄从15年前的24.9岁上升到现在的是26.3岁。
The choice to have children is extremely personal and of course there’s no wrong answer when it comes to being ready to be a mom. But according to Dr. Gillian Lockwood, medical director at the Midland Fertility Clinic in the UK, there is an ideal age when our bodies are best suited to pregnancy. Can you guess what it is?
要孩子的选择是一个非常私人的话题，选择什么时候做母亲都没有错。但是英国米德兰生育诊所的医学主任Gillian Lockwood表示，我们的身体有一个最佳的生育年龄。你能猜到是多少岁吗？
I’ll give you a hint: it’s when many of us have a quarter-life crisis. Also: when it finally becomes affordable to rent a car.
提醒一下：最佳的生育年龄是在大多数人的“青年危机”时，也是我们终于能租得起车的时候。
Yep. According to Lockwood, the ideal age to get pregnant is 25.
Lockwood表示，是的，最佳的生育年龄是25岁。
Unfortunately, says Dr. Lockwood, it’s also the age when motherhood is low on many women’s list of priorities. She explained in the Evening Standard:
Lockwood医生说，不幸的是，对很多25岁的女性来说，成为母亲并不在她们的优先任务清单上面。Lockwood医生在《伦敦标准晚报》上解释说：
“Age 25 is exactly the time when today’s young women have left university, are trying to get off on a good career, trying to pay back their student loans, trying to find someone who wants to have babies with them and trying to get on the housing ladder.”
“25岁的当代年轻女性刚刚大学毕业，事业起步，忙于偿还助学贷款，找男朋友，努力买房。”
Dr. Lockwood also had some harsh words about fertility treatments being marketed as a viable option to women over 40. “The bleak reality is that the chance of IVF working with your own eggs once you are 40 is absolutely abysmal,” she said. “Would we let, yet alone encourage, patients to pay for an elective operation with a less than five percent chance of working?” While that may be Dr. Lockwood’s opinion, plenty of wannabe parents may be happy to take those chances.
Lockwood医生还批判了向40多岁女性推销不孕疗法的行为。“事实很残酷，如果你超过了40岁，用卵子进行体外受精的成功几率非常低，”她说。“谁会允许甚至鼓励病人做成功几率低于5%的择期手术？”这是Lockwood医生的观点，但仍有很多想要孩子的父母很愿意抓住这些机会。
It’s worth reiterating that there are so many factors that inform the choice to have kids and only you can decide when — and IF — you want to become a mother. Whether you choose to have kids at 20, 30, 40, or beyond; biologically, through a surrogate, or via adoption, always listen to your own body and make the decision that makes sense for your own life. You know what’s right for you.
特别强调的是，很多因素会影响要孩子的时间，只有你自己可以决定是否想成为一位母亲。不管你是在20岁、30岁、40岁甚至更大的年龄要孩子，是自己生、代孕还是收养，你都要听从自己的身体，做出对生活有意义的选择。你知道什么是最适合自己的。
