Age & Infertility

Of all the reasons that a couple may experience infertility problems, age is just one of many factors. Women today are often delaying have children until later in life, typically 30s and 40s. The trend seems to factor in that more women are in the workplace, marrying at an older age, and married couples are delaying pregnancy until they are more financially secure. To add to that, in America, the divorce rate is still really high.

The downside is that the older you are, the more difficult it becomes to get pregnant. Women generally have some decrease in fertility starting in their early 30s. While many women in their 30s and 40s have no problems getting pregnant, fertility especially declines after age 35.

As women age, there are normal changes that occur in the ovaries and eggs. All women are born with over a million eggs in their ovaries (all the eggs that they will ever have), but only have about 300,000 eggs left by the onset of puberty. Of these eggs, only about 300 eggs will be ovulated during the reproductive years. Even though menstrual cycles continue to be regular in a woman’s 30s and 40s, the eggs that ovulate each month are of poor quality than those from the 20s thus making pregnancy more difficult to achieve.

Ovarian reserve is the number and quality of eggs in your ovaries and how well the ovarian follicles respond to hormones in your body. As you approach menopause, your ovaries don’t respond as well to your hormones, and in time they may not release an egg each month. A reduced ovarian reserve is natural as a woman ages, but young women might have reduced ovarian reserves due to smoking, a prior surgery on their ovaries, or a family history of early menopause. Also, as a woman and her eggs age, if she becomes pregnant, there is a greater chance of having genetic problems, such as having a baby born with Down Syndrome. Embryos formed from eggs in older women also are less likely to fully develop, a main reason for miscarriage (early pregnancy loss).