Forever fertile
I think I was hasty when I wrote in my earlier post that RFK Jr. and his chosen running mate were dingbats. By that I didn't mean that they were not intelligent or weren't accomplished.
What I should have written was that while being smart and wealthy, as RFK Jr. and Nicole Shanahan are, can help you do a lot in life, those attributes can't take the place of good judgement. The fact that both RFK Jr. and Shanahan are also anti-vaxxers leads me to believe that neither one of them has the wisdom to be the leader of a country.
Having said that, the whole women's fertility thing that Shanahan seems engrossed in is actually pretty interesting to me too.
Back in 2015 I read an article by Ed Yong, then a writer for National Geographic, about how humans were one of a small number of species in which females do not keep having babies until very old age ... Why Killer Whales Go Through Menopause But Elephants Don’t.
I found the subject intriguing. How would life and society change if women remained fertile their whole lives as men do? Well, we may find out soon. Read more: The Future of Fertility .
What I should have written was that while being smart and wealthy, as RFK Jr. and Nicole Shanahan are, can help you do a lot in life, those attributes can't take the place of good judgement. The fact that both RFK Jr. and Shanahan are also anti-vaxxers leads me to believe that neither one of them has the wisdom to be the leader of a country.
Having said that, the whole women's fertility thing that Shanahan seems engrossed in is actually pretty interesting to me too.
Back in 2015 I read an article by Ed Yong, then a writer for National Geographic, about how humans were one of a small number of species in which females do not keep having babies until very old age ... Why Killer Whales Go Through Menopause But Elephants Don’t.
I found the subject intriguing. How would life and society change if women remained fertile their whole lives as men do? Well, we may find out soon. Read more: The Future of Fertility .
posted by crystal | 8:39 PM
4 Comments:
I got paywalled out before I finished the article, but I feel it's a situation of "be careful what we wish for". I think the species which do have menopause are fairly long long lived compared to species which do not. With them, maybe everything just wears out at the same time. Even though it is possible to freeze eggs and embryos when we are younger to implant when we are older, those older bodies have lots of issues, some of which are with our organ systems, but a large part are simply declining energy. I had children in my 20s and had much more energy and stamina then. I would not have wanted to do it in my 40s, and in my 70s its just forgetaboutit.
And even though men technically can remain fertile, the quality of their sperm suffers as they get older and there is more of a chance of passing on birth defects.
Maybe sometimes older parents can do a better job - more money, more stability. My grandparents were better parents for my sister and me than my mom and stepfathers. But I can see a lot of pitfalls too. Apparently, most women really want to keep having babies? I never felt that way myself. I blame my stepfather taking my sister and me to a movie about natural childbirth when we were kids. The screams, the blood! Eeeeeek!
I don't know that most women want to keep on having babies, but for some their whole identity is tied up in it.
I love my kids but I'm glad those years are past. With grandkids you can enjoy them but the main responsibility is with their parents.
My mom used to send us to live with out grandparents all summer for years when we were kids. That time is some of my happiest memories.
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