And no, that isn’t a fat joke.
What’s got me a little worked up is that Kate Middleton, who graduated from college with honors and had fairly extensive career options in both the fashion industry and the field of photography, has basically been relegated to a breeder.
Yup, talk has turned from her wedding dress to her ovaries before she’s even been a wife for a week.
Looking at these two beautiful people, I have to recommend that they have a baby as soon as possible. Why? Well, beyond passing on those top-tier genes, the reality is that Kate is 29 and Will is 28, and this is the ideal time to have a baby – especially if they are planning on having more than one child.
While starting a family right away may seem like a daunting prospect for a newlywed couple – even a pair who has been dating for years, as Kate and Will have – here’s the medical lowdown on the matter:
For a woman, ages 26 to 33 years old are peak times in terms of fertility. After age 35, one tends to have more complications with hormones and ovulation, so fertility-related risks increase.
There are a number of variables that contribute to a woman’s decline in fertility after 35. Among these, include:
-A decrease in the number of eggs
-A decrease in the health of the eggs
-A decrease in cervical fluid
-The presence or onset of other medical and gynecologic conditions related to age, such as endometriosis, high blood pressure or diabetes, which can interfere with conception
Additionally, a woman in her childbearing years has a certain probability of having a miscarriage during her first pregnancy, and that risk increases as she gets older.
How about love? Happiness? A chance to revel in the fairy tale wedding that is turning the daughter of a mail order party supply company-owning couple into a real, live, honest-to-goodness princess?
Nope, it’s all about the future progeny. Jeez Louise.
Okay, here’s the thing. Obviously, when you’re talking about the British monarchy, it’s exciting to think about the possibilities. Add in the “Diana’s grandbaby” factor, and of course it’s going to get people gabbing.
I usually watch the evening news with my mother, and she’s been teasing me for weeks about rolling my eyes whenever coverage of the upcoming royal nuptials comes on. I just don’t get all the hoopla over what amounts to … a wedding. When she started making “an heir and a spare” comments, though, it really got me foaming at the mouth.
I guess I’m just a little disturbed by how quickly a universal “we” are willing to throw away a woman’s identity because of who she’s marrying and how quickly she’ll produce offspring. It seems to me that this is the kind of pigeonholing that made Princess Diana the anxious lost soul that she was for much of her marriage to Prince Charles.
And we’re doing it again?