New History

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception


It is a race against time to get pregnant....
The message from the media—and even doctors—is clear: It doesn’t matter if you have goals you still want to achieve. Drop everything and spread your legs! And even then, it may be too late. Depressing, right?

Well, women in your 30s, it’s actually not too late to get pregnant! New research indicates that our widespread panic was for not. According to an article in The Atlantic, “It turns out the widely cited statistic that one in three women ages 35 to 39 will not be pregnant after a year of trying, for instance, is based on an article published in 2004 in the journal Human Reproduction. Rarely mentioned is the source of the data: French birth records from 1670 to 1830. The chance of remaining childless—30 percent—was also calculated based on historical populations. In other words, millions of women are being told when to get pregnant based on statistics from a time before electricity, antibiotics, or fertility treatment.”