According to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), women in their thirties are now having more babies than those in their twenties in the US. And that is good news – it shows that American women are putting time and effort into their careers, academics, and personal lives. Studies have even found that women who become mothers in their thirties seem to have a longer lifespan.
However, the thought of having children can be worrying if you are in advanced maternal age as it is evident that female fertility takes a sharp decline after 30. We asked our fertility doctors for a few tips on what every woman should know about their fertility, and this is what they have to say.
“Female age is the most important factor when it comes to fertility,” says Dr. Lawrence Werlin, leading reproductive endocrinologist and medical director at Coastal Fertility Medical Center, Irvine, California. He continues, “The quality and quantity of a woman’s eggs begin to decline with increasing age.”
Unlike men who produce new sperm every 3 months, women are born with all their eggs, which decreases in both quality and quantity over time. As you grow older, your risk of miscarriage increases, and so does your maternal risk.
It helps to be well informed when trying to have children. Below is what fertility experts want women to know about their fertility in their 30s and as they get older.
1. At 30, you have a 20% chance of getting pregnant every month
And it reduces to 5% by age 40.
Research shows that the miscarriage rate for women younger than 35 is around 15%. But the rate increases to 25% by the age of 39 and 50% by the time they clock 44. It is important to bear this figure in mind so that you don’t feel frustrated if you fail to get pregnant after one month at age 31.
2. Get an ovulation kit
Ovulation kits help you know when to have intercourse to become pregnant. These kits do an excellent job of predicting ovulation to ensure couples know that time of the months when sexual intercourse is most likely to result in a pregnancy (timed intercourse).
Research has shown that a woman is most fertile two days before ovulation, but you may try to have sex between day 12 and day 18 of your menstrual cycle (day 1 is the first day of the cycle). For pregnancy to occur, sperm must be present in the female reproductive tract prior to ovulation. After that, the cervical muscle becomes thicker, preventing sperm from getting into the womb. An ovulation kit shows a positive result 24-36 hours prior to ovulation.
“And don’t bother yourself with basal body temperature and cervical mucus as they change only post ovulation when it is already too late. So, they are highly unreliable,” says Dr. Werlin.
3. Go for testing!
Sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea and chlamydia can cause severe harm to the uterine tubes. STD is a leading cause of infertility or ectopic pregnancy, a life-threatening condition in which pregnancy develops outside the womb, mostly in the fallopian tube.
These infections don’t always have symptoms and can result in inflammation of the fallopian tubes, known as a pelvic inflammatory disease. And the rate of infertility doubles with each episode of gonorrhea or chlamydia infection. Fortunately, both infections can be treated using an antibiotic.
4. Conception is not always so easy
Celebrities like Chrissy Teigen, Gabrielle Union, and Kim Kardashian have talked about their struggles with infertility and how in vitro fertilization (IVF) helped them. However, don’t lead yourself to think that getting pregnant at old age will be easy just because you see a famous person conceive at age 40.
It’s worrying that women forget how important age is for fertility when they see celebrities having children in their late forties and fifties without thinking about how those babies might have been conceived. Egg freezing, donor eggs, and IVF were probably involved in almost all these pregnancies.
5. Schedule a doctor’s appointment if you have fertility issues
If you are below 35 and have been trying unsuccessfully for 12 months, between the ages of 35 to 40 and have been trying for 6 months without success, or desire to have a baby at 40, an experienced reproductive endocrinologist (fertility expert) can help find a solution to your issues. A physical meeting with a doctor is better than any over-the-counter tests.
There are no well-designed clinical trials proving that over-the-counter fertility tests are accurate, and when carried out without a complete evaluation with a fertility expert, these tests can give women a false sense of hope or make them worry unnecessarily.
A reproductive expert will check all aspects of your fertility health: a pelvic ultrasound (which may help detect ovarian cysts or endometriosis), possible partner infertility, primary causes of irregular menstruations, and even your spouse.
6. Male infertility is responsible for 50 percent of all infertility cases
One more reason to arrange a doctor’s appointment is that it’s crucial for heterosexual couples to evaluate the male partner’s semen.
According to a study from the Ilam University of Medical Sciences, the male infertility factor is responsible for around 40-60% of all cases of infertility. Male infertility is often due to changes in sperm concentration (how dense the sperm is), motility (how well they move), and sperm morphology (the shape and size of the sperm). Lifestyle, certain medication, and prolonged exposure to heat can all affect the quality of a man’s sperm, hence ruining his chances of fathering a baby. A semen analysis can give a clear picture of what is happening.
7. Consult a doctor if your periods are not regular
A woman should have her period 3 to 5 weeks apart from the first day of her last menstrual cycle to the first bleeding in her next cycle. Having period intervals in that range shows that a woman is regularly ovulating. Consistently shorter or longer intervals could be a sign that you are not experiencing ovulation and should speak with a doctor ASAP.
8. Think about freezing your eggs
Women who are in their early thirties and don’t wish to get pregnant anytime soon need to consider egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation). Freezing your eggs will help stop the progression of chromosomal disorders and enable you to use better-quality eggs with a reduced risk of congenital disease (i.e., Down’s Syndrome) and miscarriage when you are finally ready for a pregnancy.
9. Select your contraceptive carefully if you wish to have kids without any delay
An intrauterine device (IUD) is an excellent birth control option because you may not remember to take a contraceptive pill after a hectic workday or when chasing around a kid.
A birth control shot like Depo-Provera can cause a delay in getting pregnant. It might take around 18 months to return to normal ovulation once you go off injections. All other types of birth can be quickly reversed and should not make you wait a long time to conceive with your next baby.
10. Why are older women at higher risk of pregnancy issues?
Women who are older experience more health issues than younger women. For instance, high blood pressure (hypertension) occurs more in older people and can raise your risk of preeclampsia. However, research has suggested that old women without any health conditions can still have pregnancy problems.
11. How common is Down’s syndrome?
Down’s or Down syndrome is one of the commonest chromosome issues that occur when you have children in old age. A woman’s risk of having a pregnancy associated with Down syndrome is:
- 1 in 35 at age 45
- 1 in 85 at age 40
- 1 in 353 at age 35
- 1 in 940 at age 30
- 1 in 1,480 at age 20
12. What occurs to embryos stored for future use?
You can freeze your embryos and use them several years later. When you want to have a baby, a frozen embryo may be thawed and transferred into your womb with the hope of achieving a pregnancy. Your chances of successful IVF depend on a lot of factors, including your overall health and the age at which you freeze the embryos.
13. What is a reproductive life plan (RLP)?
Every woman needs to decide whether she wants to have babies, and if yes, when to try for them. This is referred to as a reproductive life plan.
If you desire to have kids one day, your reproductive life plan may be a simple one-line statement like,
“I want to have babies in my twenties when I have the best chances of a healthy, complication-free pregnancy.”
Or
“I want to complete my studies and save a lot of money before trying to have children.”
Speaking with your obstetrician can help you figure out a reproductive life plan. You can then work towards your plan.
14. What occurs during an infertility check-up?
During an infertility check-up, you will undergo physical examinations and various tests to determine the root cause of your infertility. If your doctor finds a cause, then it may be possible to treat the condition. However, infertility can still be treated even though the cause could not be ascertained.
Note that your odds of successful infertility treatments reduce as you age.
15. Disregard fake news
Although there is plenty of accurate health information on the internet, there is also plenty of false information out there about fertility. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the National Infertility Associate warn against believing everything you see online and offer valuable insights into this issue.
Bottom line
Age plays a crucial role in fertility and successful pregnancy. As you reach your 30s, your egg health and quantity go down and so does your fertility. This is why we highly encourage fertility preservation at a younger age because you never know what life’s going to throw at you.
If you still have questions about how your age plays a role in your reproductive health or struggling to have a baby, schedule a consultation.
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