Female age is very important given the probability of getting pregnant. The increased rates of sterility with aging are well documented and very obvious in our society.
The real problem is the quantity and quality of the eggs - which leads to the quality of the embryos after fertilization. As women wait longer to have children, more couples have problems with fertility due to lower egg quality and other problems that are more common in older women.
Many couples need advanced treatment methods such as IVF (in vitro fertilization) to help increase age-related decline in egg quality.
Women's liberation brought many benefits to women. However, as women increasingly detain childbearing, our society does not cope well with teaching people how to reduce fertility with aging. Too many couples learn about the effects of age, when it may be too late.
If they had tried to have a child before, an old-fashioned “sex in the bedroom” could have built a family. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine said it well:
"As women delay childbearing, there is currently an unrealistic expectation that medical science can reverse the effects of aging."
We are doing everything possible to overcome the age through the use of infertility treatments such as IVF. However, egg quality is a significant limiting factor.
Persons against Populations
Each person and couple is unique and may be more fertile or less fertile compared to the average age. 30-year-olds already have significant problems with the quality and / or quantity of eggs, and some 43-year-olds can be fertile.
There is also no guarantee that an individual woman will have a slow and gradual drop in her fertility potential as she ages. Although rare, you can quickly reduce the quantity and quality of eggs as early as adolescence or in the twenties.
Male Age and Birth
The age of the male partner does not seem to matter much when it comes to fertility. The reasons for this include:
- All eggs of a woman are present at birth. They cannot be separated or “re-loaded”, whereas sperm is produced regularly after puberty in men.
- The age of the eggs over time, while the new sperm is constantly coming off the production line.
- Sperm in older men can reduce the potential for fertilization compared to younger men. However, this is usually all or nothing affected. If sperm can fertilize eggs - we usually do not see the poor quality of the embryos due to the lower quality of the sperm.
- Sometimes older men have less interest in frequent sexual intercourse, which may be a factor.
Age of the woman - problems with eggs
- Successful access to pregnancy is very strongly associated with the age of women - when using a woman's own eggs.
- When donor eggs are used, the age of the egg donor is an important issue.
- With egg donation, the age of the female recipient has very little effect on the likelihood of a successful pregnancy.
- Therefore, the age of the egg is very important, but the age of the uterus is not.
Female statistics and fertility decline
Many people are not aware of declining fertility as the age of a female partner increases.
- In the early 30s, a slow decline in pregnancy rates was observed.
- The decline is more fundamental in the late 30s and early 40s.
- Very few women over 44 are still fertile.
- The rate of miscarriages also increases significantly as the mother ages.
- In vitro fertilization success rates begin to decline in the early 30s and fall faster, starting around 36 or 37 years old.
A study of the fertility rate by age for women in 1957
The study focused on a large population that has never used birth control. Researchers measured the relationship between the age of a female partner and fertility. Infertility rates are now higher for the general population than for the population in this study since the 1950s.
This study showed:
- At the age of 30, 7% of couples were barren
- At age 35, 11% of couples were barren
- By age 40, 33% of couples were barren.
- At age 45, 87% of couples were barren. Ref: Tietze C: Reproductive range and rate of conception among female hatters. Fertility and Sterility 1957; 8: 89-97.
The importance of egg quality for pregnancy outcome
Poor quality eggs leads to a deterioration in the quality of embryos, which reduces the chances of pregnancy and a successful yield.
Quality women and eggs
Age is one problem, but the real problem of fertility is the quality and quantity of eggs, not the number of women aged. The quantity and quality of eggs in an individual woman can be average in age, better than average or worse than average. We know that the quantity and quality of eggs, as a rule, decrease most significantly in the mid-late 30s and fall faster in the late thirties and in the early 40s.
Fecundity and Egg Tests
The following screening tests for ovarian reserve are used by fertility specialists to predict the "residual egg nutrition" and the ability (stock) of the ovaries to respond to drug stimulation. These tests are helpful. However, they predict the number of eggs remaining, not the quality of these eggs.
- 3rd day
- AMH levels
- The number of antral follicles
Affordable treatment of fertility-related age-related problems: in vitro fertilization
Many fertility doctors recommend women over 38 who are infertile, have an aggressive treatment of infertility and quickly and quickly move on to in-vitro fertilization - before the potential of fertility is lost.
Age restrictions for in vitro fertilization
All clinics have upper age, after which they will not do IVF with a woman’s own eggs. Most IVF centers will attempt to use IVF using female partner’s eggs until around 43-45 years old.
