(I don't think this contains any spoilers...)

I came here to ask whether a villager can be too old to reproduce.

I have a male who is 60 and a female 55 and although I had them "go indoors" many times (and I have Medicine Tech Level 2) I could not get her to have a baby. This couple has had several children before so I know they are compatible.

Well, that is why I came to the forum, to ask this question. But in the process of registering, getting my approval email, etc, the male villager went indoors with a different female villager, on their own! Now she has a baby instead! (and she's a great worker. Darn!)

So I know the male can still have children. Was the 55 year old female too old?

And, this is the first time villagers have made children on their own. Kind of wondering why this happened, since I would rather choose which females to have children or not.

I wanted to use the 55 year old woman because she "Dislikes Work" (!) and I have a heck of a time keeping her on task doing anything. She just wanders off and I'll find her swimming or soaking her feet. Pretty funny. So I have had good luck having her be a parent instead and she has already had several babies in the past. Are her reproductive years over? (Villager menopause?!)

No! She is too old!
There is no limit for the males but the females can't have any baby at 50!

When a villager is enough skilled with parenting, he/she may try to have a baby by his/her own! As for the other jobs!

Welcome! You've come to the right place for answers!

While males can produce children their entire adult lives (from age 18 on), females will be unable to produce children once they reach age 50. They can still "go indoors" after reaching age 50, but the population won't increase as a result. That would explain what you saw happening.

As for the "unauthorized" trip indoors, the villagers will occasionally decide to use any of the skills they possess, even if you have selected another skill as preferred. The more skill they have in a particular area, the more likely they are to use it once in a while, despite staying on task in the preferred skill most of the time. It can be a very risky thing to allow males to gain a lot of skill in parenting, unless you're prepared for a population boom.

Ah ha! Good to know. (What a naughty little villager! Actually babies are good right now, I only have 2 males.) That explains both questions, thanks alot!