History Main / MyBiologicalClockIsTicking

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Tracker}}'', Jess is on the fence about returning to London to be with her old boyfriend. She tells Mel about her ticking clock. Mel, who is noticeably older than Jess, wryly tells her that her clock hasn't even started yet.

A typical plot in a DomCom, when a middle-aged woman realizes that menopause is right around the corner and she doesn't have much time left to have children if she hasn't already, or if she wants more. Given the LawOfInverseFertility, the harder she tries to become pregnant before The Change happens, the less likely she will be to actually ''get'' pregnant, but the moment she accepts that it won't happen, she will suddenly find herself with child.

An OlderThanFeudalism variant is the woman who wishes for a child and proceeds to have a WonderChild. See also MandatoryMotherhood. See also AbsurdlyElderlyMother if an older woman conceives a child long after "The Change" should have happened.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* GenderInverted in ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots'' by Jack and Jill. Throughout the film, Jack suggests to Jill that they settle down and raise a child together, to the point of practicing being a father with his favorite piglet Hamhock. Jill, however, is completely against the idea and prefers the criminal life instead.

* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'': PlayedForDrama in the 2018 revival. Becky's husband Mark [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim passed away]] before they were ready to have children, and she never had a serious relationship since. Now in her 40's, her clock is ticking and she's also rejected for surrogacy for being too old. She ultimately becomes pregnant from a one-night stand, in spite of the low odds.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Tracker}}'', Jess is on the fence about returning to London to be with her old boyfriend. She tells Mel about her ticking clock. Mel, who is noticeably older than Jess, wryly tells her that her clock hasn't even started yet.
* Another rare male example in ''Series/TheBoldType''. Richard wants to have a family, which becomes a discussion point in his and Sutton's relationship due to the [[MayDecemberRomance age gap]] (he's 41 and she's in her late 20s) as Richard doesn't want to wait till he's in his fifties to have children. When they get married they agree to freeze his sperm and have a five-year pause on pursuing parenthood. [[spoiler:So after an unplanned pregnancy and miscarriage makes Sutton realize she doesn't want children at all, he's not too happy]].
** When Jane finds out she has the [=BRCA1=] gene that increases her risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer, taking preventative measures means she also has to consider fertility options and motherhood in her mid-20s.
* An absolutely [[MindScrew mindfucking]] example comes from ''Series/AllyMcBeal''. When titular protagonist Ally undergoes this experience, it takes the form of {{hallucinations}} that end up coming and going without any given prompting, often seeming like a BigLippedAlligatorMoment.
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': Lorelai had Rory when she was 16 and never expressed any interest in having more children. Meanwhile, Luke never wanted kids in the first place, which is what led his ex-girlfriend to hide the fact that she'd given birth to his daughter. But in the revival, ''A Year in the Life,'' Lorelai asks Luke if he wanted them to have a child together, and he admits that he had, years ago, but thought she'd turned him down. Cut to Luke and Lorelai trying to hire a surrogate because at her age, it's the only option. Luke quickly gets weirded out by the whole idea, and they decide not to have another child.
* Wash and Zoe argue about it in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' in "Heart of Gold". Zoe wants to have kids but Wash is scared because they lead a dangerous life. Strangely one of the comics flip flops things without explanation and has Zoe be the opposed one. Eventually, Zoe did get pregnant just before Wash died in the movie and it turned into SomeoneToRememberHimBy, with their daughter becoming a character in the sequel comics.

* Creator/ReducedShakespeareCompany's interpretation of [[Theatre/TheCompleteWorksOfWilliamShakespeareAbridged Ophelia]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In the ''Webcomic/{{Bobbinsverse}}'', Shelley gets pregnant by accident, but [[http://www.scarygoround.com/?date=20160609 decides to keep the baby because her clock is ticking]].

* This is running theme for Marge's sister Selma in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', who at various points had considered sperm donation, dated several men, had been married several times and took on an iguana as a substitute. She eventually adopted a baby girl named Ling from China. Interestingly, she actually makes the decision to adopt when she learns she's reached menopause.

* In a ''very'' not funny example, Harley Quinn and the Joker jokingly reference this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' in a flashback, only to then laugh at the concept of "the joy of childbirth". The result is an attack against Batman that involves [[spoiler:a MindRape against Tim Drake that turns him into a mini-Joker and leaves him mentally scarred for life.]] At the very end of the movie it's also revealed that [[spoiler:Harley has two granddaughters named Delia and Deidre Dennis, meaning that at some point she did actually have at least one kid. It is unknown whether the "Dee Dees" are descended from the Joker as well.]]
* In the DC Comics CrisisCrossover ''The Joker's Last Laugh'', Joker is [[MistakenForDying tricked into believing that he's dying]] and tries to get Harley pregnant ''without marrying her''. When she figures that out, she is... not happy. (Lots of [=KA-BOOMs=].)
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' showed a 37-year old woman, desperate to get pregnant, on a date with an ex-convict.
* In the series finale of ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', after Mrs. Barch somewhat cornered Mr. O'Neil into proposing to her, she was very vocal about having a short engagement and less than subtle about the reasons why.
-->'''Mrs. Barch:''' We need to get cracking before my eggs dry out.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': In the song "I'm Nobody's Mama" from the Rita & Runt cartoon "Smitten with Kittens," Rita cites this trope to explain away her reluctant motherly instincts toward the stray kittens who have imprinted on her. A prime example ArtisticLicenseBiology, since cats don't go through menopause.
* Shari in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' seems to have this; she was quite desperate to get married and yells at her husband Buckle to "Put a baby in me!"
* This is Princess Carolyn's arc in Season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'', as she and [[InterspeciesRomance her mouse boyfriend, Ralph]], decide to have a baby after she'd suffered a miscarriage with an unplanned pregnancy. [[spoiler: Sadly, she miscarries again, bringing her lifetime total miscarriages up to five, and prompting a breakup with Ralph when he suggests they explore other options. Ironically, she does eventually explore other options and adopts a hedgehog that she names Ruthie]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' episode "Sperms of Endearment", the titular character's hated sister-in-law decides to have a child before it's too late, and turns to almost any man in order to get pregnant. Eventually her desperation gets so bad she turns to a sperm bank for an artificial insemination. Unfortunately, she gets inseminated with Duckman's sperm... [[spoiler:Or so it seems. Thanks to their mutual hatred of each other, the insemination doesn't take as their sperm and egg would rather kill each other than make a baby]].

* An entire story arc of ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' focuses on [[AnIcePerson Mizore's]] problems because of this. Specifically, her race can only reproduce through her mid-twenties, and was nearly forced into an arranged marriage to preserve her race. BreakTheCutie ensues. But she gets better.

* In ''The World of Moral Reversal'', one of the girls argues that this is why female perversions aren't viewed as harshly in their world: better to encourage sex now so they can have babies later before it's too late.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* This is part of one of Lisa's monologues in ''Film/MyCousinVinny'', with a beautiful counter from Vinny.
* {{Gender Inverted|Trope}} in ''24 Hour Party People'' when Tony Wilson expresses great desire to be a father while talking with his first wife.

* {{Invoked}} by Molly's doctor in ''Film/LookWhosTalking'' after she gets pregnant with Mikey. That night, she has a dream that turns it into a LiteralMetaphor, with her hanging from the minute hand of a clock tower.
* ''Film/FatalAttraction'': Alex refuses to abort Dan's baby, citing the fact that she already had fertility issues--she assumed that she couldn't get pregnant following a traumatic miscarriage, and her age--36--that it could be the last chance she has to have a baby.

* ''Film/MissConception'' is a rom-com about this very anxiety. The lead character believes she's down to one egg, and tries to get sperm on it by any means necessary.
* Gender inverted in ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' by Stu. When he takes his girlfriend, Miranda, and her children to a pool, one of his friends notes that Stu wouldn't have even dated a woman who had kids. Stu replies that things have changed and that he's pushing 40.
* ''Film/Desperados2020'': Wesley is very distressed about being in her 30s and still being unmarried and childless, especially since all her friends are getting hitched and starting families of their own.

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' Eldest Whistler is twenty eight and has time left before menopause, plus her younger sisters have more, but she'd still like to marry and have one child, to see what pregnancy is like for herself. A teacher, Miss Skinner, feels this trope far more strongly, to the point of desperation; another character sighs and calls her addled, saying she should have gone to the [[SexSlave cribs]] long ago. It's noted that not all women get this kind of feeling. Said other character can't stand children.
* In ''Literature/TheAliceNetwork'', Cameron mentions how much his wife wanted children and how the disappointment each month made her act strangely.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': In ''Squirrelflight's Hope'', Squirrelflight worries about her age. She wants to have another litter while she still can, but her mate Bramblestar disagrees.
* This is a plot point in ''Literature/ThePrioryOfTheOrangeTree''. Inys is ruled by queens of the House of Berethnet, descendants of Saint Galian. The queen always has one daughter, and it's believed that this is due to their holy origins. The current queen, Sabran, is twenty-eight, unmarried, and childless, and both her advisers and her subjects are getting pretty antsy about it. Sabran understands her duty, but she has a dread of dying in childbed to the point that she tried to commission an elixir of life from an alchemist at one point. [[spoiler:She does marry and get pregnant, but her husband is murdered and then a dragon attack injures her so that she loses the pregnancy ''and'' she can't conceive again. After a number of major revelations and the matter of the Nameless One are settled, Sabran decides to turn the Queendom into a republic.]]

* On ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', Aunt Hilda once had a problem with her biological clock (a literal [[VisualPun magical clock]]) and began a series of desperate measures to try and become pregnant, including randomly choosing a guy off the street to marry. Sabrina eventually offered her own clock as a substitute for Hilda's, but luckily it all worked out in a [[{{Pun}} timely fashion]].

* Liz on ''Series/ThirtyRock'' in "The Baby Show". Creator/TinaFey later made a whole movie about it called ''Baby Mama''.
** Liz, basically constantly, complete with her mom who [[IWantGrandkids wants grandkids]]. She goes through several boyfriends, considers adoption and sperm donation, buys a wedding dress while single....yeah. Two of those things happened in Season 1. (She finds a worthwhile boyfriend in Season 6.)
** Even [[GenderFlip Jack]] isn't immune, with his [[MyBelovedSmother mother]] pressuring him to get married (again) and have children (and then criticizing ''every woman he dates''). He actually marries Avery Jessup in Season 4, and has a daughter in Season 5...only to spend all of Season 6 with Avery [[PutOnABus arrested in North Korea]], leading to their divorce upon her return.

* ''Series/{{House}}'' had a sideplot involving Cuddy trying to get pregnant via sperm donors and fertility treatments. The [[DrJerk title character]] handles this with his usual variance of sensitivity, ranging from agreeing to inject her in the backside with a hormone treatment to actually using her infertility as a vulnerable point to lash out at her. [[spoiler:In the end, she adopts.]]

* Also a sideplot on ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' back when [[EnsembleDarkHorse Addison Montgomery-Sheppard]] was [[Series/PrivatePractice still in Seattle]].
* One contestant on Travis Stork's season of ''Series/TheBachelor'' told him at the first-night party that she was there because "My eggs are rotting." He didn't keep her past that night.
* Dr. Elliott Reid of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' started to feel this way in later seasons.
%%* Miss Fine from ''Series/TheNanny.''
* Dr. Brennan in ''Series/{{Bones}}'' had no interest in parenthood during the first few seasons, until towards the end of Season Four, when she decided she wanted to be a mother, and asked Booth to volunteer as a sperm donor. This plotline was interrupted by Booth's brain tumor, and made academic by the end of Season Six, when Booth and Bones conceived a child the old-fashioned way. By the end of the show, they have two kids.

* The titular ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' seems to fear this as well, when she realizes that she still isn't pregnant after several months of her and Sully being InsatiableNewlyweds.

* Parodied on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', where [[HumanAlien Betazoid]] women in middle-age experience [[BizarreAlienBiology "The Phase"]], which is more a case of My Biological Clock Has Gone To RedAlert, with their sex drive ''quadrupling'' (or '''more''') as a result!
** Followed up in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', when Lwaxana Troi is diagnosed with Zanthi fever, which makes almost everybody at the station as hormonal as she is.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. In "The Q and the Grey", Q turns up to ask Captain Janeway to be the mother of his child, claiming "My cosmic clock is ticking!" (given that Q is immortal, Janeway is justifiably skeptical as to this explanation). He points out that Janeway also isn't getting any younger, and is stranded on the far side of the galaxy from her fiance.
* On ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'', Adam (and an actual researcher on the subject, who herself had all of her children relatively late in life) explain that the reason we're always told that a woman's fertility drops after 35, is that most of the existing data on the topic comes from 16th-century French farmers. More ''modern'' data suggests that the decline happens in a woman's mid to late 40's, not 30's. Also, the risk of birth defects doubles after 35 -- from 0.5% to 1%. His further interview with the researcher expands that it's often a trade-off: women, who have children later in life, tend to be more advanced in their careers and more financially secure; at the same time, they're not as energetic as they were ten years ago, so it may be a little difficult keeping up with kids. It's just something every women has to decide for herself.
* Joan Watson from ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' never thought much about having children because she had so much going on in her life and she wasn't with anyone. However, after reading confidential material from an old therapist mentioning that she'd make a "good mother" Joan begins rethinking this. [[spoiler:She begins looking into adoption but circumstances delay the process for a while. After a TimeSkip in the GrandFinale she's adopted a son named [[Creator/ArthurConanDoyle Arthur]].]]
* Despite being a middle-aged man with a grown daughter, ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'''s Rogelio manages to be a RareMaleExample. He wants the experience of raising a child since [[DisappearedDad he missed out on raising Jane]], and starts visiting a matchmaker in the hopes of finding a babymama before he gets too old to be a good dad. Subverted when he realizes that his baby grandson can fill this void for him; [[spoiler:double-subverted when the matchmaker, Darci, gets pregnant by him.]]
* ''Series/SexAndTheCity''. Carrie has a moment like this when her latest boyfriend mentions that he doesn't want any more kids (he has a daughter from his first marriage). She says she's too young to be having this conversation, and too old ''not'' to be--38.

This trope is so widely-recognized across cultures that some languages have a word for it. For instance, in [[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage German]], the word is ''Torschlusspanik'' -- literally "last minute panic." Technically it can refer to any kind of impending deadline, but it's most commonly used for women's ticking biological clocks.

An OlderThanFeudalism variant is the woman who wishes for a child and proceeds to have a WonderChild. See also MandatoryMotherhood. See also AbsurdlyElderlyMother if a middle-aged or elderly woman conceives a child at the time her biological clock ''seemingly'' stopped.

* Patricia Dawkins from ''Series/TheThinBlueLine''.

* On ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', Aunt Hilda once had a problem with her biological clock (a literal [[VisualPun magical clock]]) and began a series of desperate measures to try and become pregnant, including randomly choosing a guy off the street to marry. Sabrina eventually offered her own clock as a substitute for Hilda's, but luckily it all worked out in a [[((Pun}} timely fashion]].
* In an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' involving a stolen cryotank of embryos Olivia comes face to face with her own anxiety about having children and reveals that she had been turned down by adoption agencies for not having an extended family network. Her partner Elliot offered to help her in whatever way he could... [[ShipTease whatever that means.]]
** Also invoked when a deliberately pregnant teen (the result of a pregnancy pact with friends) taunted middle-aged, childless Olivia, convinced that her disapproval of the girl's choices was only jealousy. She rubbed her swollen belly and chanted mockingly in Olivia's face, "Tick-tock. Tick-tock." Olivia [[BerserkButton retaliated]] by rattling off the things that are much more likely to happen to babies with teenage mothers.