Research conducted by Infertility Network UKsuggests that many women aged between 35 and 45 feel that they are judged for not having children. The average age at which women conceive has increased over the years and many women are either choosing to start a family later or finding that they are not in a position to have children until they are in their late thirties or forties.
The trouble is that as you get older, your fertility declines. Even though remaining 'child-free' is a viable lifestyle option, there are women who are desperate to have children, but who find that they are unable to when they finally do try to conceive. Family and friends are not always sympathetic, especially as they may not recognise that a woman wants to have children, but finds herself struggling.
It can be difficult to open up about your fertility struggles and why should you have to when it's nobody else's business? However, when friends start having children you can feel as though you are the odd-one-out and that you have to justify why you don't have children. Similarly, when your parents ask if you intend to have children, you can feel obligated to explain your situation. In today's society, not having children should simply be accepted and not have any kind of stigma attached to it, but, evidently, many people believe that a woman's primary purpose in life is to procreate and nurture the next generation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24652861
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