Although ancient records are sparse, researchers estimate that, for most of human history, women most typically conceived their first child in their late teens or early 20s andย stopped having kids shortly thereafter.
But inย recent decades, people around the world, especially inย wealthy, developed countries, have beenย startingย theirย familiesย later and later.
Rama Singh, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University, in Canada, thinks that if women keep having babies later in life, another fundamental reproductive stage could change: Women might start to enterย menopauseย later too.
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So far, scientists have only scant evidence that the age of onset for menopause has begun to drift. Just a fewย studies, mostly tracking trends from recent decades, have noted a shift on the order of a year or two among women inย certain Western countries, includingย the U.S.ย andย Finland. Singh, though, thinks that could be just the start. Menopause can come on anywhere from a personโs 30s to their 60s, and the timing appears to beย heavily influencedย byย genetics. That variation suggests some evolutionary wiggle room. If healthy kids keep being born to older and older parents, โI could see the age of menopause getting later,โ Megan Arnot, an anthropologist at University College London, told me.
