what price career success?

My favourite section of the BMJ is the obituaries. At the end of a long week, just at the point where I start to wonder if it is all worth it (having to work weekends for the rest of my life, endless postgraduate exams, the burden of other people's problems etc), the obituaries remind me that it is sometimes possible to achieve great things over a lifetime in medicine. The latest issue of the BMJ contains the obituary of Baroness June Lloyd (this is the obituary as it appears in the Times, as you need a subscription for the online BMJ). If you read it, you will discover that not only was she made a life peer, her image is part of the coat of arms (above) of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which she helped found. She seems, on all accounts, to have been an extraordinary woman, almost the kind of person I would look to as a role model for my own career. (I am unlikely to become a Baroness of course, but one has to aim high if one is to achieve anything!) However, I say almost, because of this line: "She did not marry, and is survived by her brother." Last birthday, I was the same age as my mom was when she had me and I can't help but wonder if something has to give at some point. At present my (potential) family life is at a complete standstill while my job takes up close to 100% of my time and energy, and I try to ignore the fact that fertility decreases and the probability of genetic defect increases with maternal age. Would Baroness Lloyd have achieved all that she did if she'd had her own children to look after? Will I be forced to choose between career and family?