Jessica M

I married at 35 and had my first kid at 37. I love my daughter and love being a parent, even though it is exhausting at times! One thing to consider — my husband and I have noticed that a huge number of our friends had kids in the latter half of their 30s or even as we enter our early 40s. So I think we would have felt a little left out if we had not had kids, as our social circle’s collective social lives are so different now than even five years ago. Certainly not a reason in itself to have kids, but it has actually been really fun to go to our friends’ kid-friendly holiday celebrations, kids’ birthday parties, etc. with our daughter!

When I was 30, I remember talking to a couple in their early 40s with no kids. They said all of their friends with kids had dropped off the face of the earth and now their friends were either ten years younger or ten years older, having reemerged from the most intensive parenting years.