  John and I have always thought we were very clever for having our kids early, despite the social pressures we withstand now. Sometimes we joke that we waited too long, b/c we started dating when I was 17! I can only imagine how much more energy I'd have then for this. Nature agrees with us, as a woman's fertility peaks around 17 or 18. The difficulties of having a child now can easily be seen as attributes for the children (like our small house!). The strengths include our careers still being flexible b/c we're just taking off, our energy and adventurousness, our strong health. And I dare say a benefit Ms. Clanchy jokes about in this article, but I take seriously will be more time with my grandkids down the road. Kate Clanchy isn't proposing anything so ratical as societal acceptance of teenage parents, but she is taking a nice first step toward saying maybe all this putting off of parenthood isn't as helpful to women as we'd like to think. urlLink Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Our parents were right after all : "'Universal childcare' is this generation of mothers' new mantra. 'Flexible working for all'. But no amount of child-care can square responsible parenting with Britain's ridiculously long and still-increasing office hours.
Putting off childbearing allows a woman to behave just like men in their 20s, and so draws her into supporting the very culture which will exclude her if she later wants a family. What to do? In the short term, we might try blaming men for fertility problems. A good old-fashioned shout against patriarchy never did anyone any harm, and a little toothsucking and comments about withering sperm as bachelors pass us in corridors would be amusing, at least. In the long term, we might have to think about bringing up our children differently. So that they think of mothering and fathering as important jobs, not one person's chore, as a central part of life, not a lifestyle choice, as an adult adventure and responsibility, not something a conniving woman lands on a unfortunate bloke. " 
