Researchers Suggest Having More Children Makes a Woman Age Slower. Are They Serious?

69 is the largest number of children born to one mother. And we used to think that having a large family meant joy and happiness, which oftentimes can be true. But along with this, the number of children born to a woman influences her biological and mental state. And unfortunately, not all these effects are good and positive.

We at Bright Side believe that having kids is a great joy. They bring changes not only to your routine, but to your body as well. And we want to learn more about it!

A surprising finding

The study was conducted in 2 stages in 2000 and in 2013. Scientists tracked the changes brought about by 13 years. They were able to find out that women who had more children may age slower.

What influences aging

Our DNA has specialized structures called telomeres. These are the tips that protect the DNA strands. The longer they are, the slower biological aging is. And each born child makes them longer. This may be due to an increase of estradiol during pregnancy, which protects telomeres.

Opposite opinion

However, not all studies claim that the number of kids relates to slow aging. Other research says the opposite and revealed telomere shortening in women even with 1 kid. This all suggests that more investigation is needed to understand exactly how the birth of children and their number affect the biological aging of women.

Even 2 kids can influence parents.

The number of children one has affects not only the aging process. It turns out that this affects mental health. After the birth of the first child, a mother’s mental health improves. But the birth of a second child dramatically worsens it and it remains at a low level.

3 kids bring more stress.

Another study claims that mothers with 4 or more children are more relaxed than mothers who have 3 children. Namely, 3 children is the most stressful number for a mother. Moms say that the more children they have, the less they worry about small details, while moms with 3 children say they worry more.

Do you have kids? If so, how many of them? How stressful do you find parenting to be?