Conceived

Helen Joyce on the promise of IVF:

In many ways, older women make better mothers--better educated, better paid, more likely to be in a lasting relationship. But biologically, it is a different story. Every day she has lived has been another insult to her eggs, which are as old as she is and will show it even if her face doesn't. It may one day become standard for women barely out of their teens to freeze 20 or 30 young, fresh eggs from a couple of cycles of IVF, to be thawed when child-bearing finally seems like a good idea.

And the risk:

I am afraid...that a technology intended to help make babies will end up achieving the opposite.

When will women have children if the clock has stopped ticking? If you have a small daughter, you may be happy to think of her calmly waiting for the right man and the right moment before using the youthful eggs she has wisely stored to make healthy children. But for so many women--and men--there never really is a right time; there is always another promotion to chase, a bigger house to buy, another hurdle to clear. So there's a question for today's youngish parents: will your grandchildren ever be born, and if they are, will you still be alive to see them?