[This] text aims to examine the human life course in nine age-graded periods: conception, pregnancy and childbirth, infancy early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, late adulthood, and very late adulthood. By examining each of these periods, the life course perspective can be understood as ever changing and marked by predictable and unpredictable twists and turns that ultimately coontribute to a unique life journey.-Back cover.