Facts About Fertility After 40

You may be wondering about fertility after 40 - whether you were waiting for the right relationship, building a successful career, or interested in expanding your family. Is it possible to get pregnant? Here is what you need to know about conceiving a child in your fabulous 40s:

Consider these facts about pregnancy rates:

• A woman in her mid-20s has a 20-25% chance of pregnancy in any one month and a miscarriage rate of about 10%.

• By the time a woman is in her early 30s, the pregnancy rate drops to 15% and the miscarriage rate rises to 20%.

• Wait until your mid-30s and the pregnancy rate falls to 10% per month, while the miscarriage rate rises to 25%.

• Women in their 40s have a 5% pregnancy rate and a miscarriage rate of 33%.

• Once a woman reaches 45, she has less than 1% chance of becoming pregnant with her own eggs.

Why is fertility after 40 such a challenge?

An infant girl is born with all the eggs she will ever produce. Over a lifetime that supply of eggs dwindles with each menstrual cycle. What’s more, like the rest of our bodies, the eggs we do have deteriorate with age. So when a more mature woman conceives, poor egg quality increases the likelihood of miscarriage.

Even women who are the picture of health (eating well, exercising often, etc.) will experience their reproductive systems decline after hitting the big 4-0. Don’t feel guilty. There is nothing you can do to change how time alters the body. When a woman over 40 conceives, the pregnancy presents a new set of challenges. With age, pregnant women face a higher risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and premature labor.

Reproductive techniques may be able to help you conceive.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one treatment available to enhance fertility after 40. A doctor removes eggs from the ovaries, then matures and fertilizes them with sperm in a laboratory setting. Later, the doctor transfers the fertilized eggs back into the uterus. One of the challenges in using IVF for women over 40 is egg quality. Some experts report that up to 90% of eggs in patients over 40 can be genetically abnormal and not suitable for IVF. Women with poor egg quality might consider using an egg donor.

You can give yourself a better chance of conceiving.

While the statistics seem daunting when it comes to fertility after 40, the truth is there are things you can do to give your body the best chance of conception.

1. Take your vitamins. We’ve long known that folic acid supplements are critical to preventing certain birth defects, like spina bifida. Now studies suggest that omega 3 fatty acid supplements have similar positive effects on an embryo.

2. Change your lifestyle. Yes, it’s time to do all those things the doctor nags you about, from quitting smoking to maintaining a healthy weight. Consider taking a yoga class or trying acupuncture. Part of boosting fertility after 40 is making your body the healthiest possible place for a growing fetus.

3. Get your partner’s health in check. While age doesn’t create havoc in a man’s reproductive system as it does with a woman’s, age can trigger a host of other conditions that ultimately make him less likely to be fertile.

Conceiving a child after 40 is possible. If you’ve tried to conceive for 3 months without success, talk to a doctor about treatment options to boost fertility after 40.

From Facts About Fertility After 40 to Secondary Infertility