I was 24-years-old when I had my first (and only) child. In Hong Kong and among the expat community here, I'm looked at as a virtual "child bride" as I got married when I was 23-years-old which is more than a decade younger than most of the women I meet here. Where I'm from, any age post-university (22+) is normal for getting married and usually people have their first child within the first 1-5 years of marriage if they are going to have children at all. Most of my friends were around 23-25-years-old when they got married--some a bit older--in their late 20s or early 30s. Getting married at 35 or older is quite unusual where I come from. People don't really need to compromise their family life and aspirations with their work life and aspirations where I come from because the workplace doesn't put the same demands on them that the HK workplace does. Work and life can co-exist rather harmoniously where I'm from it seems.
I think there is a reason why women start to think more about having children in their 30s--physically, fertility begins to decrease after 27-years-old. It's not a huge decrease at first but across the board it has its first real dip at 27 and then starts to slightly go down from there. Some people call this your "body clock ticking." With the advent of modern technology, a lot of fertility issues can be helped or overcome, however, I think it's good to keep in mind that fertility does have its limits.
Sure, you can have your first child at 40-years-old and some women even go so far as to have one at 50 or older (in those rare cases you hear of once in awhile on the news). But, in general, you can expect that you will age and therefore having your first child at 40-years-old could prove more physically challenging (conception as well) than having your first in your early 30s. You also should take into account your own personal health and family health history. Also, the risk of conceiving a child with birth defects (especially Downs Syndrome) goes up significantly the older you get.
Some women have amazing fertility and could continue to have children well into their 40s with no problems. In my family, my mother who is very healthy started going into menopause in her early 40s and by the time she was in her mid 40s she was completely through "the change." It was not premature menopause in her case and she actually didn't have much complications with the hormonal change at all. I'm just saying, that if she had waited until she was 40 to try for her first child, it may have been a no-go without expensive fertility treatments that can't really even guarantee success.
Also, I know that I don't have the same energy I had even 5 years ago (and I'm still in my 20s!) so as you get older, your energy level can change and pregnancy, infancy and all that goes into being a parent is very energy consuming. It's my personal opinion that it's better to have children while I still have enough energy to keep up with them.
Of course, in the end, you'll weigh your options and make the best decision for yourself but in my humble opinion, the stars will never perfectly align for having your first child--it will never be a perfect situation but if its in your heart to start a family and you've come to the point where you're really questioning it and getting mentally geared up for it, that probably tells you that earlier is better than later for you. I doubt you'll regret it having a baby now, as opposed to five years from now.
As long as you've worked for 40 weeks on your teaching job... you'll receive your maternity rights. And you've found a supportive work environment.
