Babies seem to come in batches. Ever experienced the office baby boom? Everyone jokes about something being in the water because suddenly three people at work are having babies. Or how come all of your friends have kids the same age as yours? (That seems to follow "wedding fever".) And why does it seem when you want to have a baby, you start seeing them everywhere?
Scientists say "baby fever" indeed exists and it is contagious! Researchers from Kansas State University say that both men and women experience it.
"Baby fever is this idea out in popular media that at some point in their lives, people get this sudden change in their desire to have children," Gary Brase said. "While it is often portrayed in women, we noticed it in men, too."
Brase and his wife, Sandra Brase, know what they're talking about. They've spent nearly 10 years researching baby fever: the physical and emotional desire to have a baby.
Interestingly, it was the birth of their second child that sparked the Brases' interest in studying baby fever. "I noticed a distinct difference in my desire to have more children," Sandra Brase said. "Although one hears about people having baby fever from friends, family and in the media, I was curious if there was a scientific explanation for the presence or lack of it in both women and men."
Their study included several aspects, but the researchers found three factors that consistently predicted how much a person wanted to have a baby. READ MORE To find out what they are.
