Reproductive milestones and oral contraceptive timing predict late-life mortality

Abstract The timing of reproduction is causally linked to aging and mortality risk patterns in diverse species, but the existence of equivalent effects in humans is contentious. However, previous studies give little or no consideration to oral contraceptives as modifiers of reproductive timing and, therefore, potential disruptors of evolved trade-offs between reproduction and mortality. Here, we test the capacity for oral contraception and reproductive milestones to predict mortality and aging rate diversity. Using a large pre-registered study on 272,000 women from the UK Biobank, we reveal how oral contraceptive timing and reproductive milestones strongly predict mortality across the lifespan. These robust effects are independent of socioeconomic and health risk factors and, for oral contraceptive timing, act independent of other reproductive milestones. This study reveals complex relationships between reproduction and mortality and suggests an exciting potential for oral contraceptives to disrupt evolved trade-offs and lower intrinsic mortality risks.