Jordan Gannuscio

November 11, 2019

Life Span Human Development

Life Spans
Ever since I was little, I had set plans for myself that I though without a doubt would happen, but

as time has gone on it become more and more obvious that things don’t always go to plan. When

I was younger, I had planned to go to school on the west coast and get a PhD in psychology and

find a job near the ocean and live there until I retired. As Merriam-Webster Dictionary refers to a

biological clock as “an inherent timing mechanism in a living system that is inferred to exist in

order to explain the timing or periodicity of various behaviors and physiological states and

processes” and I would refer to it as a timeline you have physically and monumentally leading

to your death. There are a lot of important aspects such as graduating, getting married, having

kids, getting your dream job, buying a house, ect. According to my social clock, I wanted to

graduate college after 4 years and start working towards my PhD, I hoped that I would meet a

guy towards the end of my bachelors who I would ultimately marry and start a family. Seeing

as I am twenty-two right now and am still working on my associates at a community college

that aspect of what I though was my social clock hasn’t gone as planned. I still hope to get

married a between twenty-five and twenty-seven and start a family in my late twenties or

earlier thirties.

As the text refers to all of the biological changes that happen as you as senesce begins,

the brain slows down and menopause takes place. All of examples play apart in your

biological clock and can create large changes in one’s health and future plans. One instance

that I worry about is not being able to have kids, whether or not I get married or have a
medical reason stopping me. With the timeline I mentally have created for myself, I would

have roughly ten years to reproduce and ideally, I wouldn’t like to have any kids after thirty-

three. Before worrying about kids, there is the worry about finding someone to have kids with

and someone who will be a good spouse and father. If I ultimately don’t get married, I would

still like to have kids, whether it be adopting or invitro. This leads to the possibility of not

being fertile or having issues carrying a child, while I would love to have a child of my own

DNA especially of I were to get married. The textbook states that “ infertility becomes more

common. Sperm count gradually decreases in men, and every step of female reproduction—

ovulation, implantation, fetal growth, labor, and birth—slows down” (Berger 458.) which

creates worry for not only me, but whoever my future partner may be. While I hope to adopt

or find a solution, there are so many different aspects that come in to play, I hope I can carry

on with my plan, but I am ready to adapt in whatever way I may need.

 Reference page

Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Life Span. Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2019.

“Biological Clock.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/biological clock.