In the first part of the lecture I focused on unintentional infertility. Of course, fertility is also controlled by normal biological boundaries, and couples can also intentionally control their fertility.

This next part of the lecture will discuss concepts within this effective reproductive span.

Generally, this exists within two boundaries. First, the biological reproductive span which begins with menarche and ends with menopause, and second, the social reproductive span. This social span represents the fact that women do not devote their entire period of biologic reproductive capability to bearing children, or each women would have over 15 children on average. Thus, certain social constructs limit reproduction.