Do Late Children Indeed Enhance Female Longevity? Findings from the European Royalty (1790-1939)

Ulrich Mueller, University of Marburg

For some human populations a statistical association between late reproduction and female longevity has been reported. The causality behind this is unclear. We compare pairs of sisters from the European Royalty (cohorts 1790-1939 (n=1648)), both at least reaching age 45, with at least one child. We control for social status: all subjects were very wealthy, enjoying the best medical care of their time; and genetics: in this inbreeding population, subjects were sharing more genes than average siblings. We identified 201 such sister pairs. In 101 cases, the sister, who had her first child later in life, lived longer than her sister, in 100 cases she did not. Also, in 97 cases, the sister who had her last child later in life, lived longer, in 104 cases she did not. We conclude that for females, neither a late first birth nor a late last birth is a life prolonging event.