The REAL reason Gen Z are desperate to marry early - and why many want at least SIX children. It doesn't matter how many eggs you freeze - you need to get hitched in your 20s like me, by KARA KENNEDY

When I got married at 25 – within four months of meeting my husband – and then fell pregnant six months after the wedding, my friends' reactions were split down the middle. Those in their 30s and 40s were horrified. What was I thinking? I was practically a child bride, a teen mother! How would I work, or travel? I couldn't possibly be ready for such a huge life step. But my Gen Z peers were far more sanguine. Why not embrace the joy of motherhood while you're still young, they said. Why not jump into the big life stuff now?.

For the truth is, my generation don't recognise the stereotypes that are so often trotted out about us: lonely, selfish, lazy, entitled, snowflakes. Every other 20-something I know has thrown in the towel when it comes to casual sex and instead is dating to marry. We all want lots of kids, some as many as six, and realise the time to get on with it is now. Doom-mongering predictions of a huge demographic slump are certainly premature among my friends.

The view from Gen Z is simply a return to what has been true all along – people yearn for love and companionship, and figuring out who to commit to is one of the most consequential things anyone will ever do. That's why we need to take it seriously – and instead of dithering, grab it when we see it. Indeed, a survey published this week revealed that young adults today are more in favour of getting married than they were 20 years ago, when almost 39 per cent thought marriage was 'irrelevant'.

Kara Kennedy on her wedding day with her husband. The couple married four months after meeting. As Gen Z shifts towards having a more conservative view of relationships, the research by The Times also showed a third thought it better for a couple to be married before having children. As I did. It's a position we've come to despite everything our parents and older friends tell us. When my husband and I met, we still adhered to the view that in a world of such overwhelming online choice, it was nigh-on impossible to find the love of your life, let alone decide the timing was right to bring little people into the world.

It's what Millennials, aged between 30 and 44, had been telling us for years, after all. Committing to one person seemed like an outlandishly old-fashioned thing to do. But then, after a few weeks together, we realised that maybe all those people who had done it before us – our grandparents and great grandparents – might have had a good reason to. Maybe they were happier and healthier for it. This is in stark contrast to the generation above us, in their mid to late 30s, who are only just trying to find a suitable partner after spending their 20s turning up their noses at anything serious.

It seems that no matter how well their career is going, how big their flat is, or how much life experience through travel and adventures they gain, they never quite feel ready to settle down. Watching them, my cohort has learned that time ticks on, and if you want two or three children, you need to start seriously thinking about it in your 20s. Too many older women I know feel totally lied to by those around them who said they shouldn't rush into marrying and starting a family because the choice would always be there. But it's not – no matter how many eggs you freeze. It wasn't my plan to start at 25, but I'm so glad I did.

Kara with her baby. She fell pregnant six months after getting married. Kara says her friends' reactions were 'split down the middle' about the news of her marriage and pregnancy so soon after meeting her partner. This may surprise you, but my friends and I want nothing more than to settle down in a monogamous marriage with a few offspring to spend Saturday nights in front of the TV with. And pregnancy is contagious. When you start having kids, so do your friends.

I have several who want six or even more children. I don't think I'll be bringing up a football team, but I know I'll do my part with two or three. Our parents – Gen X-ers or Boomers – roll their eyes at this, perhaps fearing they'll be landed with overwhelming grandparenting duties. They can't imagine how we'll pay for childcare costs and sigh when we suggest staying at home and looking after our children ourselves might not be the end of the world.

More than one child doesn't have to mean bankruptcy. One of my girlfriends is pregnant and has a three-year-old. She's never put him in a nursery or had regular childcare because she and her husband work from home and juggle between them. If she really needs help, she asks one of her neighbours to step in for an hourly fee. We do the same, more or less. It's why I don't worry about the 'motherhood penalty' that holds women back at work and stops them getting promoted.