The Best Time to Have Babies 35 and under, please!

A top expert on fertility has said women should have babies before they are 35 years old. Professor Mary Herbert from the UK's University of Newcastle said the age of 35 is like when the "clock strikes 12". She said that after that age, it is riskier for a woman to become pregnant. She added that it was difficult for fertility treatment to work as women got older. Professor Herbert gave doctors and nurses a message in a speech at the British Science Festival. She said: "Perhaps the most important message to give is that the best cure of all is to have your babies before this clock strikes 12." She added: "I would be getting worried about my daughter if she hadn't had a child by 35." fertility.html fertility.html Reading

Career before children Many women these days are choosing to put off having a baby until they are older. One of the biggest reasons for this is that women do not want to interrupt their career. Women are also marrying or settling down at a later age. Professor Herbert said society needed to think about how to help women have babies at a younger age. She said: "We need to understand what the barriers are to women having their children early." Childcare expert Belinda Phipps agreed with Professor Herbert. She said: "You can't always have babies to order. If you want to have a partner and a secure place to live, you don't necessarily get that all done by the time you are 32. The right man doesn't always just come along." fertility.html fertility.html

Comprehension check 1. Who said women should have babies before the age of 35? 2. To what did the professor liken the age of 35? 3. What is it riskier for an older women to do? 4. Who did the professor talk to at a festival? 5. Whom might the professor worry about? 6. What don't women want to interrupt? 7. When are women settling down? 8. What does society need to understand? 9. What is Belinda Phipps' job? 10. Who doesn't always come along? fertility.html

What is the best age? ActivityBest AgeReason Own a mobile phone Get married Have children Retire Start learning English

MY BUCKET LIST  Climb Mount Everest  Get married  Achieve your ambition  Learn computer skills  Travel  Start earning money  Ride an elephant  Fly in a hot air balloon What is a “bucket list” ? A list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying. Another way to describe a bucket list would be to say a list of ____________________________. What would you add to this list? Would you want to start a bucket list for your family?

Fill in the blank A top (1) ____________ on fertility has said women should have babies before they are 35 years old. Professor Mary Herbert from the UK's University of Newcastle said the (2) ____________ of 35 is like when the "clock (3) ____________ 12". She said that after that age, it is riskier for a woman to become (4) ____________. She added that it was difficult for fertility treatment to (5) ____________ as women got older. Professor Herbert gave doctors and nurses a message in a (6) ____________ at the British Science Festival. She said: "Perhaps the most important message to give is that the best (7) ____________ of all is to have your babies before this clock strikes 12." She added: "I would be getting (8) ____________ about my daughter if she hadn't had a child by 35." fertility.htmlhttp:// fertility.html speech pregnant worried age cure expert strikes work

Fill in the blanks Many women these days are choosing to put (9) ____________ having a baby until they are older. One of the biggest reasons for this is that women do not want to (10) ____________ their career. Women are also marrying or settling (11) ____________ at a later age. Professor Herbert said society needed to think about how to help women have babies at a younger age. She said: "We need to understand what the (12) ____________ are to women having their children early." Childcare expert Belinda Phipps (13) ____________ with Professor Herbert. She said: "You can't always have babies to (14) ____________. If you want to have a partner and a (15) ____________ place to live, you don't necessarily get that all done by the time you are 32. The (16) ____________ man doesn't always just come along." fertility.htmlhttp:// fertility.html order barriers right interrupt secure down off agreed

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Advice to women What advice do you have for women concerning the child bearing years? How many children do you think women should have? Did you know that one woman had 53 children? How would that be possible?