-4

In a prosperous human kingdom of the near future, there are two princes, their ages alone could set them as father and son.

This kingdom bans genetic modifications, and also the freezing of reproductive cells and/or embryos.

Both princes were conceived through natural means, born of the same father and mother.

The king and the queen were married at their earliest ages for political reasons, but both are blessed with peak vitality and health. Never has anyone heard of one of them even afflicted by the common cold.

Historians, biologists and physicians all say that there were no way the two princes' ages could be further apart.

What is the maximum age gap possible between the princes?

candied_orange
  • 3,906
  • 1
  • 12
  • 23
Mindwin Remember Monica
  • 14,591
  • 6
  • 50
  • 103
  • 10
    Is this a real question or a riddle? – Isaac Kotlicky Mar 15 '15 at 20:34
  • 1
    From my experience, people here ask real questions that they're looking for answers to. I recommend you annotate your OP to reflect that this is a riddle not a question. – Isaac Kotlicky Mar 15 '15 at 21:40
  • 3
    If it is meant as a riddle rather than a real question, I think it belongs on Puzzling.SE – celtschk Mar 15 '15 at 21:42
  • @IsaacKotlicky can you point me the difference between the two? a real question and a riddle? I based my question on http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/11827/how-large-could-a-planetary-diamond-be disregarding the comment thread, how do my question as written differs from the one linked? – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 15 '15 at 21:51
  • 3
    It differs in the acceptable answers. For a worldbuilding question, any answer that gives information about what was asked is a valid answer. For a riddle, there's only one correct answer, and all other answers are wrong. – celtschk Mar 15 '15 at 22:00
  • @celtschk ok, then it is not a riddle. – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 15 '15 at 22:02
  • 2
    There's no possible way to give an exact answer, as it depends on individual variations. – jamesqf Mar 15 '15 at 23:44
  • 4
    @celtschk actually several riddles have more than one solution. Many are not meant to, but do anyway. When people insist that even these have only one solution they aren't asking a riddle. They're playing, "guess what I'm thinking". – candied_orange Mar 16 '15 at 02:46

2 Answers2

24

A woman can get pregnant approximately between 15 and 50, so the maximal age difference between two sons of the same mother is about 35 years. Certainly large enough that one could be the father of the other.

Note that those ages can vary for different women, but even between 18 and 40 are 22 years, so even assuming a very late puberty and a very early climacteric period you'd get enough age difference.

celtschk
  • 31,444
  • 13
  • 91
  • 152
  • Sorry but you did not answer the question. I asked "The maximum age gap possible. Not an estimate. – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 15 '15 at 21:38
  • 19
    I answered it as a worldbuilding question, because that's what this site is about. In the mean time, you revealed in comments that you meant it as a riddle, for which this is IMHO the wrong site (and there's a Stack Exchange site where riddles are on-topic, Puzzling.SE). – celtschk Mar 15 '15 at 21:43
9

According to wikipedia, the earliest recorded motherhood for healthy woman is at age 8. There are three registered cases of motherhood at ages 5 and 6, but in all the cases the girls had an hormonal defect. Since the queen is healthy by all standards, so hormonal defects are ruled out. Medicine defines precocious puberty if it is onset before age 8, and since the queen is healthy, she entered puberty at age 8.

The eldest prince was born when the queen was age 8.

Also according to wikipedia, the oldest natural conception birth mother was age 57. Due to concerns regarding accuracy of early XX century birth records and age count, lets take into account only births that occurred in the XXI century.

The oldest prince then was born with the queen age 57.

Since the age gap could not be bigger by the opinion of the specialists cited, the age gap then is 49 years (assuming the youngest prince birth month after the oldest prince, in the calendar).

Regarding the queen's health, and the relationship between the age of the menarche (first period) and menopause:

There is conflicting evidence concerning the relationship between ages at menarche and menopause. Some studies have found a relationship between earlier menarche and earlier natural menopause or perimenopause,[92,94,126,127] a few have reported a relationship between earlier menarche and later menopause,[128,129] but most others have found no association.[69,130-133]

Since there is no scientific consensus, the reader is free to conduct an impact evaluation on the papers linked in that article, to see where the reader feels more comfortable with.

candied_orange
  • 3,906
  • 1
  • 12
  • 23
Mindwin Remember Monica
  • 14,591
  • 6
  • 50
  • 103
  • 4
    However you didn't give any evidence that the same person that has such an early puberty can also have such a late climacteric period. So when being pedantic (as you were on my answer), you also didn't answer the question. – celtschk Mar 15 '15 at 22:08
  • @celtschk can we just shrug it off as the adaptation period on the first post by a new user? I can mark your answer as accepted (as I avoid accepting my own answer on other SE sites). But can we let this issue die? I promise to be a good boy in future questions. Or do you want me to leave the site? – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 15 '15 at 22:13
  • Well, just for the record: The one upvote you currently have on your answer (and already had before your comment) is mine. So it's not that I consider your answer a bad one. Anyway, thanks for the accept. – celtschk Mar 15 '15 at 22:17
  • Why did you ask the question if you were going to answer it yourself? – user3932000 Mar 16 '15 at 00:22
  • @user3932000 Exchange sites are not simply help sites. A good question and a good answer are both welcome regardless of whose names are on them. – candied_orange Mar 16 '15 at 03:21
  • I wonder, whether an early onset of puperty will have any consequence on the onset of menopause. For instance will having a precocious puberty make it impossible to have a late menopause? (I don't think so, but not sure) I think adding some research on this aspect would make the answer even better. – drat Mar 16 '15 at 04:10
  • @drat I'm on it boss! – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 16 '15 at 04:15
  • 3
    The problem I have with this answer is that even from a pedantic point of view there's no reason this is correct. The fact that the oldest natural conception was at 57 doesn't mean at all that there is "no way the two princes' ages could be further apart" because there's no evidence that this exact age is the maximum limit. There's no good reason the queen couldn't become pregnant at an even later age. Yes, it's highly unlikely, but it's preposterous to say it would be impossible just because there is no precedent, and no biologist or physician with a bit of common sense would assert this. – zeta Mar 16 '15 at 09:20
  • Additionally you could become pregnant at 57 and give birth while 58. – Tim B Mar 16 '15 at 09:53
  • Wikipedia is out of date. A Beduin woman gave birth in her early 60's three or four years ago. It was hailed as a miracle, in fact it was her first childbirth as well. – dotancohen Mar 16 '15 at 10:50
  • @dotancohen how accurate and reliable are their birth records, to pinpoint the mother's age? If she is sixty now, she should be born in 1955. And at that time, for a semi-nomadic people... – Mindwin Remember Monica Mar 16 '15 at 11:23
  • That is a good point, and don't forget that the Muslim year is about two weeks shorter than the solar year that the Christians and the Jews use. So 62 Muslim years would be 60 Gregorian years. I'll see if I can find a source for the birth with more details. – dotancohen Mar 16 '15 at 11:26
  • Here is a link to a woman who had twins at age 67. – dotancohen Mar 16 '15 at 11:29