cover image Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood

Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood

Elizabeth Gregory, . . Basic, $26 (298pp) ISBN 978-0-465-02785-9

In this upbeat, sometimes self-congratulatory book, University of Houston professor Gregory looks at the benefits of waiting until later in life to have children. Recent front-page studies citing a rise in infertility have instilled a sense of emergency in women who put off having children until they have established careers and chosen the right father—or perhaps eschewed the need for one. Gregory’s palliative, informative study of 113 mothers between the ages of 35 and 56 (she doesn’t share where they live, one failing of this work) reveals the rational motivations on the part of these mostly well-educated, professional women for waiting, as well as their varying success in getting pregnant. Married moms, single moms, gay moms, moms who had a baby by nature or with the help of technology or adoption—Gregory shares her happy discovery that most of these “new later moms” felt positive about their choices. Some of the reasons they cite in interviews include bringing more financial power and education to the nest, creating a strong family focus and the likelihood of a stable, “peer” marriage, enjoying a longer life expectancy and a general sense of self-confidence younger mothers may lack. Helpfully, Gregory debunks a lot of the hysterical statistics surrounding infertility and dispenses the wealth of pregnancy and adoption offerings with equanimity and good cheer. (Jan.)