Fertility at any cost?

What Is Fertility?

–Noun
1. The state or quality of being fertile.
2. Biology. The ability to produce offspring; power of reproduction: the amazing fertility of rabbits
3. The birth-rate of a population
4. (of soil) the capacity to supply nutrients in proper amounts for plant growth when other factors are favourable.

Fer*til"i*ty\, n. [L. fertilitas: cf. F. fertilit['e].] The state or quality of being fertile or fruitful; fruitfulness; productiveness; fecundity; richness; abundance of resources; fertile invention; quickness; readiness; as, the fertility of soil, or of imagination. "fertility of resource." --E. Everett.
And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps Corrupting in its own fertility. --Shak.
Thy very weeds are beautiful; thy waste More rich than other climes' fertility. --Byron.


In today’s society there seems to be a never-ending quest for fertility. It is the new Holy Grail. But in reality is it really our poisoned chalice? I feel rather uncomfortable writing this since I have two healthy children, and I wonder what my position would be if I was unable to have children, but I still think that we are warping fertility into something that it isn’t, and we will undoubtedly have to deal with the repercussions in years to come.

As scientific methods move forward, it is becoming more and more achievable for women of all ages to conceive. However, whether this is morally the right thing to do is a question we have to ask ourselves. But, and this is a big but, do we have the right then to tell other women what they can do about their own fertility just because of their age? As much the idea of an elderly woman getting pregnant might make us uncomfortable, it is a very slippery road to tell them they can’t. What would be the difference in that and telling someone they can’t have an abortion? If women have the right to control their own bodies, then this includes when and how they have babies.

That said, just because medically something is achievable, this does not necessarily mean it should be normalised. There is more at question here than the rights of a woman to reproduce at any cost. Why do women feel they MUST have children? Hormones aside (although they are an important factor), are we still in a situation where a woman’s worth is based solely on her ability to conceive and bear children? Are we still being pushed into motherhood because it is the “natural” role?

Women that say that they don’t want to have children are still often seen as abnormal. Often they are told, “ah well, you will change your mind eventually”, or “Well, don’t leave it too late”. Is a non-maternal woman such an anathema? Where is the freedom to find fertility in other forms? Why is fertility in its other forms considered to be inferior? So many questions that need answering.

We need to move forward and accept fertility in all its forms, whether it is the biological child, or another worthwhile endeavour. We must not alienate either woman, the one that wants a baby outside of “normal” ideas, or the woman who doesn’t want a child at all.