Human population of the world has been decreasing since the 1960s. One of the main reasons for this is the drop in birth rates. Of course, the fact that women have children at age they grow older has a great effect on this. Having a child after the age of 35 means reducing the number of children as well as the risks.
Ideal birth age in the late 20s
In addition to the decrease in the number of children born, the childbearing age of women is also noteworthy. Fertility decreases with age. Experts say the best time to get pregnant is between the late 20s and early 30s. This age range is defined as the period in which the healthiest results are obtained for both the woman and the baby. There are even studies in which the ideal age for giving birth to the first child is determined as 30.5.
On the other hand, fertility begins to decrease gradually at the age of 32 and rapidly decline between the ages of 35-37. A study examining the relationship between childbirth and uterine cancer in 2012 suggests that women who have given birth to their first or last child, aged 40 and over, are less likely to develop uterine cancer than women who have never given birth.
Increased risks in pregnancy after 35 years of age
While the age of childbearing of women increases due to reasons such as economic reasons, increasing education level and the development of medical technologies, various risks arise in pregnancy after 35 years of age. Chromosomal abnormalities such as diabetes, high blood pressure, miscarriage, preterm and stillbirth, postpartum hemorrhage, low infant weight and down syndrome are among the prominent and increasing risks.
Ovaries are frozen for five years
Various methods are being developed to avoid these risks. One of them is ovarian freezing before the age of 35. As the childbearing age increases, ovarian freezing processes increase.
If a woman freezes her eggs before she is 35, she increases her chances of getting pregnant and the chance of having a healthy child by 50 percent. This rate falls below 9 percent after the age of 40. One of the fertility techniques used by couples who want to have children at a late age and encounter problems is IVF. In vitro fertilization method is highly likely to have twins and triplets. At a late age, both pregnancy and delivery are becoming increasingly difficult in second, third and more pregnancies.
In Turkey since September 2014, only women with early menopause and cancer risk and men can benefit from the process. In accordance with the legislation, eggs and sperm are stored for five years, and after five years this period can be extended by establishing written communication with the Ministry of Health.
Nine countries to increase world population
But how will this changing understanding of having children affect the world's population? By 2050, the total world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. From 2017 to 2050, India, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the United States, Uganda and Indonesia are expected to account for half of the world's population growth. In countries such as Ukraine, Ireland and Spain, birth growth is estimated to be the least. Population growth is expected in Africa, Oceania, Central and South America, Asia and North America, respectively, while a decrease of 2 percent is foreseen only in the European continent.
Claims that the world population will not show a steady increase while childbearing age continues to increase. Decades ago, a Norwegian scholar who warned of a potential global catastrophe caused by an overpopulation has changed his mind and said: the world's population would never reach nine billion people. He also said it would peak at 8 billion in 2040 and then fall.
Similarly, Professor Wolfgang Lutz and his colleagues at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna predict that the human population will stabilize by the middle of the century and then fall. A report by Deutsche Bank envisions a world population that will peak at 8.7 billion in 2055 and fall to 8 billion by the end of the century.
