We Are Reproducing - Vol. 2 Ch. 2 - About One Time in Ten

[MangaDex]

 

[GiantEthicist]

Chapter 1 is like 100 pages of text-dense 4-panels so it'll take a bit.

 

[ARealCoolGuy]

I feel like telling a woman she has "plenty of time" in her thirties is irresponsible. It sucks, but women don't have nearly as much leeway, or the luxury, to put off having children like men can. It's something of a toxic myth to let women think can put off children until their 30's or even 40's - it can happen, but it's so much less likely to happen than if she was in her twenties. The woman who had a child at 47 is an oddity, not a standard to be compared to.

Personally I think schools should hammer home that women should think about these things earlier, just so we can be confident women doesn't miss the boat from lack of urgency. Too many women now are missing their chance, which is only fuelling the declining birth rates world wide; not to mention how tragic it is for a woman to miss out on having a family simply through poor timing.

Of course, this is all irrelevant to the story, as the doctor was just encouraging her by saying those things, but the author is spreading the terrible advice in this comic.

(This isn't to say men can just put off having children either, there's reasonable evidence to suggest that the growth in things such as autism is caused by men having children later. However, if women wanted to have children earlier, men would likely naturally follow.)

 

[Laparoscopic]

Thanks for the translation. Love reading manga that aren’t the usual HS romance/isekai/magical girl stuff.

 

[Exquisitus]

Woah, I went to this miscarriage shit twice with my ex-wife. There's a lot of hidden pain, and believe me, also the husband suffers.

 

[eviljackspicer]

I'm glad these two are taking this in stride and they are very supportive of each other as something like this can be devastating to a couple trying to conceive

 

[Mekiaa]

It is entirely possible to healthily give birth at 30-35. It's the 35-40 mark when you have to consider options like IVF as you may experience reduced fertility.

The 40+ mark is when there may be more complications regarding fetus development and mother development.

Anyone with a womb is constantly told about their biological clock. Hell, i was told about my biological clock when I was 12. Fucking 12. Trust me, anyone who truly wants to give birth knows about it.

Giving birth at 18-23 requires a lot of family support. If the support isn't there, Baby and Caregiver can end up in extremely reduced circumstances. People don't magically become great parents just because they pushed a watermelon out of their vagina. You don't get given an income just because you have dependents.

Giving birth at 24 - 28 is the preferred option of those who have a stable career and partner/family support. Usually one partner is financially supporting everyone at this point. However, not everyone hits their chosen life milestones at this age and pressure re "biological clocks" is probably what creates so many unhappy relationships. The partners both need to step up to the plate with their baby but only one does.

Most people prefer to give birth at the 28-35 mark as they are generally in a much more financially secure position, feel emotionally mature, have reached the level in their career that they can take paternity leave and they've still got enough energy to balance the needs of the baby at the approriate age points. The financial security is important as they generally want the ablity to provide every opportunity they can for their child.

At this time frame, they're generally speedrunning childbirth with multiple children I.e giving birth to children with 1 year difference. The pressure of speed running and having two+ babies under 1-2 is a recipe for never sleeping again for the next 10 years.

And none of this takes into account fertility, birthing trauma (making people reluctant to give birth again), post partum disease, the impact of PCOS and endometriosis on fertility and the fact that some people are just naturally more fertile than others. Some people will have a lot more trouble conceiving. There is an incorrect assumption that younger people will find it easier to conceive.

Giving birth does not make a person a parent. I would like to mention that there are also fostering and adoption as options if you genuinely want children in your life but you are unable to conceive. Considering the very real problems there are with adopted and foster children being abused....v

Tl:dR Fertility and childbirth is complicated. There are other factors that will affect fertility and fetus development more than your age.

It is better to wait to give birth in good circumstances than rush to give birth in bad circumstances.

 

[GiantEthicist]

I feel like telling a woman she has "plenty of time" in her thirties is irresponsible. It sucks, but women don't have nearly as much leeway, or the luxury, to put off having children like men can. It's something of a toxic myth to let women think can put off children until their 30's or even 40's - it can happen, but it's so much less likely to happen than if she was in her twenties. The woman who had a child at 47 is an oddity, not a standard to be compared to.

Personally I think schools should hammer home that women should think about these things earlier, just so we can be confident women doesn't miss the boat from lack of urgency. Too many women now are missing their chance, which is only fuelling the declining birth rates world wide; not to mention how tragic it is for a woman to miss out on having a family simply through poor timing.

Of course, this is all irrelevant to the story, as the doctor was just encouraging her by saying those things, but the author is spreading the terrible advice in this comic.

(This isn't to say men can just put off having children either, there's reasonable evidence to suggest that the growth in things such as autism is caused by men having children later. However, if women wanted to have children earlier, men would likely naturally follow.)

Fair and true, but as for the point about it being bad advice, I think it's important to remember all the times Uchida explictly says not to take anything she writes in the comic as advice - it's purely a record of things she's experienced or heard about other women experiencing. Which is not a waterproof defense, to be sure, but she's always been very up-front about how the comic is not meant as, and should not be taken as, advice for mothers.

 

[EchoGirl]

Didn't expect a continuation but thanks

 

[GiantEthicist]

Didn't expect a continuation but thanks

It's going to be slow - most of the comics are very text-dense and I have a job and stuff - but I am planning on keeping with the project for the foreseeable future.