Scott_Lafrance:
Al things considered, but the healthiest time for a woman to have a child is when she is in her teens. You all know that Mary was 14 when she carried Jesus. This taboo against young relationships is a social and cultural one, not a divine mandate. Let the flame war begin!
Flames? Oh, please!
Most women in that era had their first child at a very young age, ready or not, although the total infant and maternal mortality was *very *high for all maternal ages. OTOH, Elizabeth and Hannah were up there when John and Samuel were born. Obviously, you are right that there isn’t a divine mandate for having children at a particular age.
Unless a woman is more likely to die with a *first *pregnancy that comes when she is older, these statistics only explain why it is dangerous for older women to have babies, not why women should start early. The statistical health advantages of having or not having children at any age are hardly compelling reasons to give birth early or to avoid trying the convent first. Let’s not even go there.
The rate of child abuse is higher among teen mothers than among older mothers, and higher among the poor than among the affluent. Women should marry and have children when they have matured sufficiently for marriage and have found a suitable husband with whom they can support a family, and not a moment sooner.
Nevertheless, waiting alone is no guarantee of maturity. There are plenty of young adults married at 18 and 20 years old in 1945 who were far more mature than far older brides and grooms marrying now. Therefore, girls and young women who want a happy marriage and family should strive to attain the skills and virtues required of wives and mothers, and to recognize and value the parallel traits in potential suitors, rather than waiting for marriage and family or merely the passing years to drop these on them.
No one can be expected to maintain a household frugally in the present age unless they apply themselves to at least a high school education. Those who don’t will not only have difficulty finding employment to support their families, but will need help in researching prudent consumer options for necessities such as transportation, savings, and insurance. There are too many who make their profit by preying on the poorly educated and the financially immature to advocate anyone put themselves in that situation on purpose.
So Scott… no marriage for 14 year old girls!! Period!!
thinking there was new news out. lol…glad you posted the link there. i’m 35 and am not waiting because i want to, just because i hadn’t met the right man until this past year. i just kinda want to wait until i get married, so yes, that means i’ll be starting a family (hopefully) when I’m 36 or 37. I figure God only gives us what he knows we can handle and will put my trust in Him.
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