A Need to Reproduce Forever Reproducing is an irreversible decision and brings forth great amounts of great responsibility and change. As big a decision as it may be, there are many women who decide to be ready too late in their lives. Delayed pregnancy can occur for a variety of reasons, many of which include financial or professional stability, mental stability, or pregnancy by external means, such as in vitro fertilization. Women are expected to stop being able to get pregnant with the arrival of menopause. In the book State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett, a woman named Marina Singh travels deep into the Amazon jungle in hopes of finding Dr. Annick Swenson, a doctor who is developing a drug for pregnancy in post-menopausal women. Dr. Swenson herself became the first non-native guinea pig. Marina struggles with the ethical and moral aspects of activities that are performed on native cultures. She soon learns that while there are cultural practices that can lead to optimistic progress in post-menopausal pregnancies, it may be futile to bring them back into modern society. Women should not be allowed to reproduce after going through natural menopause and stopping ovulation. Swenson studies the Lakashi tribe and lives among them, slowly earning their trust. The women of the tribe eat the bark of the Martin tree and hallucinogenic mushrooms called Rapps after researcher Martin Rapp, which give them the ability to reproduce into old age. She deduces that local moths found hanging around these forests produce a response that gives those who eat them protection against malaria. He soon found the key to being fertile until death... mid-paper... for the rest of their lives from the start of puberty. There are also many complications that a woman can face in both conceiving and giving birth to children in her fifties and even forties. Both mother and baby can suffer long-term damage. While there are women who may have missed out on having children at an early age, there are many children waiting to be adopted. There is no need for medical science to develop this possibility, as women are not part of a society where conceiving children is the highest priority. Works Cited Dahlan, Hannah. “Older Mothers: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!” Pregnancy, birth and beyond. Np, nd Web. April 11, 2014. Patchett, Ann. State of wonder. New York: Harper, 2011. Print.Eden, Elizabeth. “HowStuffWorks “Pregnancy Complications in Older Mothers” HowStuffWorks. Np, Nov. 16, 2006. Web. Apr. 11. 2014.