Although there is, I'm sure, alot of on the job training that goes on with having kids, I think there is a time when you feel ready, and it can happen at various stages of life. I'm feeling ready now, as the thought of getting married and having kids feels like it would be an incredible enrichment of my life, whereas in years past it seemed an idea for the far beyond, and too burdensome. A co-worker and his wife had their first child when this man was 52. Fatherhood has given him, by his own admission, a new lease on life. So, for some people there is a feeling of readiness, of having a sea change in the way they feel about the prospects of having kids.

-chanteyranger