Having children, like everything else in the culture, is affected by social trends.  Today’s moms are more educated than ever before; a majority are in the labor force and many serve as the only or primary income earner for their families. Some major social changes include:

• More women are staying single. The percentage of women who have never married was 15% in 2014 up from 9% in 1994
• Single women are having children. In 2017 55% of single women have had at least one child up from 31% 20 years ago
• Women are delaying having children. Women’s mean age at first birth was 26 in 2013, up from 21 in 1970
• Some women foregoing motherhood altogether — about 25% of women near the end of their childbearing years with at least a master’s degree have not had children
• Some women are freezing eggs. A new technology called vitrification has made it possible to freeze and thaw the complex proteins and structures in the egg without significant damage.

In spite of these changes, biology remains the same. Fertility for most women decreases significantly around age 40.  So women today have a different set of facts and choices when it comes to creating a family.  Thinking ahead, research, planning and, in some cases, a big budget are the keys to taking advantage of the available options.