Interesting Studies About Pregnancy and Autism

Autism has increased dramatically in Canada and the USA in the past 10 years. This study links autism to a deficiency in vitamin D caused by a lack of exposure to the sun. According to Dr. John Cannell, the increase in autism coincidences with medical advice given to the public since the late 1980s to avoid all exposure to bright sunshine. This is a controversial study especially since it’s still a hypothesis. When faced with such an enigmatic disorder, I think any hypothesis is worth considering.

The risks associated with pregnancy over 35 years old are well-documented. This study, however, paints a more positive picture. Dr Wyatt is hoping to move the “high risk wall” from 35 to 40 in order replace nearly automatic amniocentesis with less invasive testing.
According to a team of Canadian doctors, age should no longer be the only criteria considered for genetic testing. Twenty years ago, that’s the only information doctors had. Nowadays, technology is allowing us to go beyond age. This conclusion contradicts most other findings in the field but it seems like a ground-breaking idea worth entertaining.

My Reproductive Strategy

I am almost 28 years old (November) so it’s time to think seriously about my fertility. Scenario A, the Childfree Scenario, does not require much planning. Scenario B, the One Kid Scenario, requires a little more thinking and tada! This is what I have come up with:

July 2007 (27 yrs old) to July 2013 (33 yrs old): Work Hard, Play Hard

August 2013 (33 yrs old) to February 2014 (34 yrs old): TTC/be pregnant

April 2014 (34 years old) to October 2014 (34 years old): Have baby

I know the stats. It’s a tight schedule. If Scenario B fails, we’ll revert to Scenario A.

Dumber by the Dozen

Here’s a good reason to limit yourself to one child: His/her sibling(s) will not be as intelligent.

This is the kind of theory that has been around for years. Robert Zajonc, a social psychologist, is famous in many fields for his birth order theory of intelligence. Benefiting from their parents’ exclusivity, firstborns interact with adults more than any subsequent offspring. Until a sibling comes along, firstborns grow in a highly intellectual family environment. Secondborns, on the other hand, interact more with their sibling than their parents and so forth.

This theory is obviously debated. But today, a Norwegian study confirmed that firstborns are indeed smarter. In fact, firstborns’ IQ is on average 2.3 points higher than their younger siblings. Like Zajonc, Dr. Petter Kristensen of the National Institute of Occupational Health in Oslo attributes this difference to social rank (and not genetics). Firstborns enjoy the undivided attention of their parents and do not have to share the family resources.

When I cited Zajonc as a reason why I did not want more than one child (if at all), my gynecologist laughed it off. Who’s laughing now, doctor!?!