A woman’s age is a major factor that affects her chances of becoming pregnant and giving birth to a baby. A woman’s fertility starts diminishing at the age of 30s and the chances of conception become even difficult as they reach their early 40s. This is because several changes take place in the body as people get older.
Relation Between Woman’s Age and Fertility
Every woman is born with a fixed number of eggs required for her entire lifetime. As you get older, your eggs also age and their quality also reduce. When you are in your 20s, you have chance of becoming pregnant every month and you can give birth to a healthy child.
But as you get older, your fertility will start declining from your late 30s. As you reach your 40s, the chances of becoming pregnant are only 5%. The chances of pregnancy also decrease if you have uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and tubal disease.
Women’s Aging Increases Complications During Pregnancy
As you age, the risk of complications during pregnancy also increases. If you become pregnant after the age of 35, the chances of miscarriages are high. Your child may also develop chromosomal abnormalities. Along with this, you may also face complications during pregnancy such as gestational diabetes, placenta previa, etc.
Men’s Age Also Matters for Pregnancy
Male fertility also starts declining as they get older but it happens later than in women’s life. In men, fertility starts declining when they reach their 40s as the sperm quality reduces. The chances of pregnancy also decrease with an increase in the male partner’s age. The offspring of an older father has high chance of having mental health issues and an autism spectrum disorder.
Are There Any Factors That Can Affect My Fertility?
Keeping age factor aside, there are several other factors that can affect your fertility. Some of the factors include:
- If your mother or sister had early menopause
- If you or your partner smoke and drink alcohol
- Undergoing an ovarian surgery in the past
- If you had chemotherapy to treat cancer
- Exposure to harmful chemicals
- Irregular periods
- If the time gap between your periods starts reducing
If you or your partner have any health issues that directly affect fertility and pregnancy, you should visit a fertility specialist to evaluate your fertility.
Are There Any Tests to Know My Egg Reserve?
The answer is yes. The quality and number of eggs can be determined using tests to know follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) levels. Antral follicle count (AFC) can also be determined using ultrasound. But there are no tests to determine the ovarian reserve accurately.
A semen analysis can be used to know the size, shape, and mobility of sperm.
Is There Any Chance That I Can Slow Down the Reproductive Aging Process?
Making certain lifestyle changes can help improve your health but cannot reverse your reproductive aging process. Some of the lifestyle changes include quitting drinking and smoking, exercising, eating healthy food, reducing stress, etc. Smoking and stress can have a negative impact on the quality of eggs and sperm.
Along with this, you can also schedule a preconception appointment with your doctor to know your overall health, the best time to try for pregnancy, etc.
In men, sperm is made on regular basis and it takes some months to mature. Making lifestyle changes can improve the quality of sperm in a few months. But women are born with all required eggs for a lifetime. There are no treatments to improve the count and quality of eggs. Therefore, it is important to talk to your doctor if you are planning for pregnancy in your late 30s.
Medical Approaches to Treat Fertility
With an enhancement in technology, several treatments are available to increase the chances of conception. The treatments focus on combining the sperm and egg at a right time to let conception take place. The treatment methods include IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization), and IUI (intrauterine insemination).
If you wish to delay your pregnancy until you reach your late 30s and early 40s, you can preserve your fertility. Sperm and egg can be preserved for future use. Collecting sperm from men is easy using a simple and less invasive procedure. But women need to undergo an egg retrieval procedure to collect the eggs.
But if you or your partner is already infertile, you need to take the sperm or egg from a donor man or woman respectively.
Planning For Pregnancy? Visit Angels Fertility Center Today
If you are worried that your age is affecting your chances of conception, visit Angels Fertility Center today. We are one of the trusted healthcare providers in the field of reproductive medicine in Hyderabad. We are dedicated to helping couples to experience parenthood. We offer a wide range of infertility treatments for both men and women under one roof. You can choose the one that is suitable for you. We have a highly advanced lab to ensure the safety of our patients. To discuss your condition or to know the possible treatment options, call us today.