Is The Biological Clock A Myth?

Okay, it’s official: I’m really in trouble with this one.
This isn’t because it’s that tricky a question but one that has the potential banana peel of ‘mansplaining’. Why me?
In such cases though, we’ll go with science.
The term, ‘biological clock’ has come to mean a ‘thing’ for women over the years. It’s used to describe a feeling, an invisible internal timer that tells women how much time they have on the street of convenient conception.

Just one thing: this wasn’t the case till 1978. Before then, the biological clock meant something else entirely – an internal regulator that tells us when to wake and when to sleep (also called the circadian rhythm). At the time, a journalist called Richard Cohen, contemplating the increase of women in the workforce – many of whom were delaying marriage and childbirth for career advancement – wrote an opinion piece titled, “The Clock Is Ticking for the Career Woman”. And boom, it became the stick to beat women with when they appear to be focused on work without having either a husband or baby to show that they have at least ticked that part of their checklist.

However, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that there is a physical or hormonal change meant to trigger the sudden desire for a baby in women because time is running out. If you ask me, the term today is more about how our society views women and motherhood and less about how women actually function with regards to fertility. Yep, it’s a patriarchal scam because if women aren’t made to believe that they are biologically wired not only to conceive but to also WANT to conceive because there’s a deadline, then how else can the choice to delay or even ignore this aspect of their lives be taken away from them?

Put simply, society doesn’t respect mothers enough to say that deciding to be a mother is a valid choice that should be made, not just because there’s a clock ticking away, but because the woman actually thinks it’s a great idea to have one.

Now, I’m not saying that women don’t suddenly feel an overwhelming desire to have kids. This happens but it’s not due to this ‘biological clock’ farce but ‘baby fever’. This is an actual thing, but it is triggered by coming in contact with a baby. In 2010, a Swedish study found that women were most likely to become pregnant soon after their co-workers had babies. And guess what? It happens in men too!

In fact, while it is true that there’s a time when it becomes increasingly difficult or nigh on impossible for women to conceive, new research has also shown that men also have a similar time when it becomes harder and riskier to sire – I like this word – children. Sure, there are a few men fathering kids in their 70s but the fact is that as men age, sperm quality decreases, the risk of miscarriage is higher and there’s a tendency for children born to older fathers to have more genetic abnormalities.

Moral of all my long talk?

Do you. Don’t be held back by stereotypes. Chase that career if you want, and should you want to have kids, do that too. Point is that it should be a decision you make with your partner, absent of cultural factors, societal expectations or bad science like this biological clock nonsense.

And should you decide not to have a little mini-me, it’s absolutely okay too!