什么年龄最适合生育或者领养第一个孩子？答案是：对大多数女人来说25岁到34岁之间最合适。

Slightly more than 75 percent of women questioned in a joint survey by ForbesWoman.com and TheBump.com believe it is the perfect time to become a mother. Forty-two percent narrowed it down further to 25-29 years old, and 17 percent said there was no best age.

福布斯女性网和TheBump网站联合开展的一项调查显示，约75%的受访女性认为这个年龄段是当妈妈的最佳时间，有42%的女性把年龄段进一步缩小到25到29岁之间。另外17%的人认为压根就没有最佳时间。

Women felt that by their mid-to-late 20s they were more likely to have established themselves in their career and financially, and were ready to take on a new role, according to the poll. A ticking biological clock was a factor for only 21 percent of women.

调查显示，处于25-29岁之间的女性认为自己事业有成，经济独立，已经准备好承担新的角色。只有21%的女性认为滴答不停的生物钟是考虑何时要孩子的因素之一。

"Women are looking for a good balance." said Jenna Goudreau, of ForbesWoman.com who worked on the survey. "The number one factor in coming up with this ideal age bracket was career and financial security."

福布斯女性网负责该调查的詹娜古德罗说：“女性是在寻求一种在最佳年龄段和事业、经济稳定之间的平衡。”

The poll included responses from 2,210 women, nearly half of whom were mothers. More than 50 percent of women without children said they planned to have two children, while slightly more than a third intended to have three or more.

有2210位女性参与了该调查，其中有近一半女性已当上妈妈。超过一半的未生育女性表示他们打算要两个孩子，有约三分之一的人表示想要三个或更多的孩子。

"One of the things we were trying to do with the study is not only find the ideal age to become a mom but to become a mom and have a successful career, as half of the workforce are women now," Goudreau explained.

“现在女性占劳动人口的一半，我们做这项调查的目的不仅仅是想找出当妈妈的最佳年龄，还包括如何实现事业家庭两不误，”古德罗说。

Although many women combined, or planned to combine, motherhood with a job, 62 percent believe having children has a negative impact on a career. But only 30 percent of working mothers said it had affected their own career.

现在有女性生了孩子继续或打算继续工作，但62%的人认为生孩子会对事业有消极的影响。但实际上只有30%的上班的妈妈认为生孩子的确影响了自己的事业。

"I did find that women who have their children younger tend not to earn as much money in their lifetimes," said Goudreau, adding that the younger women are when they have their first child, the less invested they tend to be in their career.

古德罗说：“我的确发现生育孩子较早的女性挣钱少。”古德罗还说女性越早生孩子，她们在事业上的投入就会越少。

调查发现带薪产假和弹性工作时间是最常见的公司福利。只有约三分之一的女性表示她们的公司可以让别人分担部门工作以减轻她们的工作时间，有仅不到6%的公司提供育儿场所。

参与调查的妈妈中，68%的人认为自己生孩子的时机很合适。她们中大多数人在35岁之前生了孩子。那些在35到39岁间生育的女性中有60%的人表示要是再年轻点要孩子就好了。

多数女性生完孩子后继续上班是出于经济原因，有很多人每天的工作时间和生孩子之前一样。

有63%的女性认为她们跟自己的母亲一样，在事业与家庭之间奔波。