Physiological maturation, reproductive patterns, and female fecundability in a traditional Moroccan population...

The interaction between age at menarche, adolescent motherhood, and subfecundity were evaluated in 496 Moroccan women 25-54 years of age from the province of Marrakech. Since this population is characterized by later sexual maturation and early marriage, significantly increased subfecundity, measured by the waiting time to first live birth and the incidence of fetal loss, was expected. Menstrual age was defined as the difference between age at marriage and age at menarche. Social access to reproduction was conditioned by age at menarche: early maturers married at a younger age, while late maturers had a significantly shorter menstrual age despite the fact that married at a significantly older age. Although there was a tendency for late maturers to have longer waiting times and more fetal loss, there were no significant differences for either variable according to menarcheal age. Women with a shorter menstrual age became pregnant within the first year after marriage significantly less frequently than women with a greater menstrual age, but did not experience a greater occurrence of fetal loss during their reproductive life. The results indirectly support the hypothesis that the regularity of ovarian function is similar among populations independent of the timing of menarche. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.