Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity. When defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal
Marrying at age 22-25
You have seemingly finished college or are on your way to getting your work off the ground by now. At this age, you’re likely tying the knot with your college or high-school sweetheart — or even the person you met on the first day of Kindergarten or became friends with after growing up together in the same neighborhood.
Pros: You and your groom are both young, so you can grow, supplanting and motion in the same direction as you grow together as a couple. You’ll be young parents if you select to have children, and you’ll also be able to have a large family. Plus, when the kids get packed off to college, you’ll still only be in your 40s — which is young sufficiency to start on new venture and rediscover yourselves as a couple, not just as other people’s parents.
Cons: When you’re under 25, you might not know yourself very well — especially when it comes to what you want to do with your life and what you actually believe in, both as an individual and as a couple. People’s values also change quite a bit after their impractical, gullible early 20s. The 50% separation cost that’s so often cited in America specifically applies to people who marry when they’re less than 20 years old; for those in the 20-23 age range, it bound to 34% — and that separation rate also refuse again as you age. And if you select to be a stay-at-home mom, you might find yourself lost from an identity standpoint when the kids eventually leave home. “I don’t know what to do with myself now,” says Stacy Abrams, 42, of New Jersey, who got married at 22 and accordingly absorbed her life to raising her five children. “My charitable have to educate me how to use the computer now,” she acquire.
Marrying at age 30-35
If it’s true that 30 really is the new 20, then you’re a woman with many opportunities ahead of At this age, a first marriage will also probably be your only marriage for life.
her. You’re secure with both your career and personal finances, and you’ve probably stopped thinking of your dates as “boys” — at this age, you’re definitely dating “men” (at least, that’s how you’re referring to and thinking about them, anyway).
Pros: Not only do you know who you are and what you want out of life, you also have a good sense of what you need in a romantic partner. You’re likely to pick someone who’ll be a good life partner for you over the long-term and have a solid career in place to boot. A woman over 30 is only 8% likely to get divorced, according to marriage
Cons: Contrary to popular wisdom, a woman’s fertility only begins to dip when she’s 28, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Between ages 30-34, a woman’s infertility issues are almost doubled from 8-15%, according to Management of the Infertile Woman by Helen A. Carcio and The Fertility Sourcebook by M. Sara Rosenthal — but the good news is, you still have some time to deal with it if you find yourself struggling to conceive. A woman’s chance of getting pregnant only decreases from 63-52%, so if you’re still under 35, it might take you a little bit longer to start a family — but it will still probably happen, given enough time. “I was so scared that I would have trouble conceiving that I starting trying the very minute I got engaged,” says Dana White, who got married in San Francisco on her 35th birthday — while she was five months pregnant.
If you're in your twenties or thirties and don't have kids, a buzz of unspoken questions about your childbearing decisions might have hovered around your Thanksgiving table last weekend. Next time the would-be grandparents in your family start wondering about your plans, it will be helpful to have some ammo about what scientists are saying about what the "best age" is to have a baby.
Their answer depends, in part, on what you mean by "best."
The late teens or early twenties are "best" biologically, according to John Mirowsky, a sociologist at the University of Texas at Austin. That's when "oocytes are fresh and the body's reproductive and other systems are at a youthful peak," he wrote. Women in their twenties are least likely to have developed chronic health problems that would put them or their babies at risk, and they have the lowest rates of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, and infertility. But early pregnancy doesn't work well in today's society, which is organized around smaller families and more full-time employment for women. If pregnancy occurs too early, social difficulties often follow. At age 20 or younger, Mirowsky wrote, pregnancy is "more likely to happen out of wedlock, more likely to interfere with educational attainment, and more likely to crystallize a disadvantaged status."