Another older mother sticking my nose in here...

I just want to say that it is such an individual thing when a person or couple is ready to have children. When I was 21 I thought a baby would only stop me doing what I wanted to do. I wanted to travel and be selfish and really grow up because I was a very immature person.
A family friend is the same age as me (I am now 31) and has 4 children the first conceived at 16 and when I was around 24 I asked her didn't she wish she'd travelled overseas? She said she had never been interested, and children were her enjoyment and adventure. At the time I thought she was mad, but I saw that she was completely happy in her life.

Now at 31 I realise what she was talking about, having a child has completed me like nothing else in my life. I think for someone like myself with an itch to travel, I needed to go do that. But since I have had Felix I thought to myself that if I'd known earlier how incrediable it was I'd have gotten pregnant sooner. Also the impact on a 30 year old body is SO much more than when you are 19!

Here's something else for you, the lactation consultant at the hospital I was talking to was saying that teenage pregnanies are now almost non exisitant, and the average age for a woman giving birth is now 30.6 years. She said this is actually a negative, because after 27 women's fertility decreases. Our bodies aren't really designed to be giving birth at the age most women conceive.

I say if you feel ready, then you most likely are, and there are many, many things to learn when you do have that baby, that no matter what age you are, it all comes on a steep learning curve..

Best of luck to all those TTC!