25th June 2012 | by Emily
New research suggests that both men and women experience “baby fever”
Generally, “baby fever” – the emotional and physical phenomenon involving sudden and extreme urges to have a baby – has been viewed as something that happens to women rather than men. However, a recent study of 1100 adults (including 211 men) found that some men also experience an overwhelming desire to have children. Not surprisingly, the researchers found baby fever was more commonly reported by women than men. Interestingly, with age baby fever increased for the men in the study, whereas for women, it seemed to peak in their 20s and decline as they got older.
The biggest predictor of baby fever in this study was whether or not someone had “positive exposure” to a baby (like spending time with a cute niece or nephew). Negative exposure (crying babies, tantrums, etc.) was more likely to turn people off having children – thereby reducing the likelihood of baby fever.
Read more about baby fever:
Read the abstract to the research study:
https://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2011-18048-001
I’m going on 50 this year and I can honestly say for the first time in my life, I’m feeling this. Call it baby fever or just a really weird mid-life crisis. My male friends similar age are buying boats and cottages, but I guess that’s because they all became parents twenty-some years ago. I had my fun but am thinking maybe I’m the one who missed out on something along the way?
My husband and I are now seriously starting to talk about having kids, and I have noticed that he’s become more and more interested in children, and having a family — particularly over the past 5 years or so. I always chalked it up to increased maturity — but maybe it’s baby fever! It’s actually pretty great that he’s so excited about starting our family. We get to experience the baby fever together