The Panic Years

"We have descriptors for many periods of life--adolescence, menopause, mid-life crisis, quarter-life crisis--but there is a period of profound change that many women face, often in their late twenties to early forties, that does not yet have a name. Nell Frizzell is calling this period of flux "the panic years," and it is often characterized by a preoccupation with one major question: should I have a baby? And from there--do I want a baby? With whom should I have a baby? How will I know when I'm ready? Decisions made during this period suddenly take on more weight, as questions of love,…