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How Long Can you Wait Until you Try to Have a Baby?

Tim Harford asks why 300-year-old fertility statistics are still in use today, and sees that women in their late 30s who want to get pregnant have better odds than they may think.

How long can you wait until you try to have a baby? Psychologist Jean Twenge argues that women in their late 30s shouldn't be as anxious about their prospects as is commonly assumed. The author of The Impatient Woman鈥檚 Guide to Getting Pregnant has been amazed to discover that key fertility statistics come from studies based on people who lived several hundred years ago - before electricity was even invented. Tim Harford and Hannah Barnes find fertility experts agree that the modern woman's prospects are better than is often thought.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander

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9 minutes

Last on

Mon 28 Oct 2013 03:50GMT
91福利社 World Service Online

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  • Looking at the lives of women around the world

  • Why doctors often say one in three women over 35 will not conceive after a year of trying

Broadcasts

  • Sat 26 Oct 2013 23:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service Online
  • Sun 27 Oct 2013 11:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service Online
  • Mon 28 Oct 2013 03:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service Online

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  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life