Women with a reasonable ovarian egg reserve can have IVF treatment at 47 years of age and she may respond to stimulation. The issue is with the egg quality. Women have “perfect” eggs below the age 30, but then egg quality starts to decline, which explains declining fertility.
Although of course there are exceptions, using own eggs for IVF by women over the age of 45 is unlikely to be successful. This means that you are very unlikely to get pregnant at 45 with own eggs.
Egg quality is largely determined by the ovarian environment that the eggs spend their final 90 days of development in; women in their 40s generally have a poor ovarian environment for producing high-quality eggs.
Let's look at U.S. IVF success rates for women age 45 using their own eggs. The odds a first cycle will work are around 3%, and the odds each subsequent cycle will work begin to approach zero. After three cycles, the cumulative odds of success are about 1 in 20.
Realistically, you can always undergo IVF unless you have experienced ovarian failure and/or menopause. However, pregnancy success rates using your own eggs drops considerably for women over 40.
“It's exceptionally rare for patients to get pregnant naturally at 50 or over 45. They make history,” said Dr. David Keefe, an obstetrician-gynecologist and fertility researcher at New York University. In part that's because around age 50, many women are entering menopause, after which egg harvesting isn't possible.
At the age of 37, the average woman has around 25,000 eggs left, and by the time she reaches 51, this will have fallen to 1,000. “Just before menopause, your egg supply reaches below 1,000, and ovulations space out before they stop altogether, eventually,” says Dr. Sekhon.
Have sex at least every other day during your fertile window. Understanding your own menstrual cycle is one of the most important things you can do, studies show you're most likely to get pregnant if you have sex within a day or so of ovulation.
At this age, you have some challenges that make it harder to become and stay pregnant. 45 and beyond: Your likelihood of becoming pregnant at this age is no more than 3 or 4%. While it's not impossible to conceive, assisted reproductive technologies are almost always required to enhance your success rate.
Egg freezing typically works best for women in their 20s to 30s, and is not generally recommended for women older than 38 years. The biological clock cannot be reversed by oocyte cryopreservation in women older than 40.
Refrigerate eggs at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less when they are received. Keep eggs under refrigeration until used. Keep a maximum of two weeks supply of eggs, and rotate your stock so that the oldest ones are used first.
Women have “perfect” eggs below the age 30, but then egg quality starts to decline, which explains declining fertility. Over the age of 45, almost all the eggs which fertilise will create chromosomally abnormal embryos and therefore the chance of healthy, ongoing pregnancy is close to zero.
When you are born, this number has reduced to around two million and by the time you reach puberty and begin menstruation (start your periods) you will have somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 eggs remaining. At menopause, you will have 1,000 to 2,000 eggs remaining.
Females are born with between one and two million eggs. The number decreases until a person stops ovulating and reaches menopause. At that point, fewer that 1,000 remain.
This is the story of Cecilia, who became a mother to her little Angélica by getting pregnant at the age of 48, even though she had a low ovarian reserve. Meet her here and learn all about the In Vitro fertilization treatment that made it possible for her.
A woman's peak reproductive years are between the late teens and late 20s. By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline. This decline happens faster once you reach your mid-30s. By 45, fertility has declined so much that getting pregnant naturally is unlikely.
The AMH blood test has become more common in the past 15 years, but another way to determine a woman's ovarian reserve is to conduct an antral follicle count during a transvaginal ultrasound. This method, which entails counting the follicles seen on the screen, is also useful, along with AMH, explains Amanda N.
45 and Older
At 45, a female's likelihood of getting pregnant is no more than 3% or 4%. That's not to say it's impossible, but assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are almost always necessary, with IVF being the most common.
Pregnancy in Your 40s
If you get pregnant after 35 years old, experts call this an “advanced maternal age” pregnancy. But it's still possible to get pregnant and deliver a healthy baby in your 40s. Childbirth at older ages has become more common too. Since the 1990s, birth rates in people aged 40-44 have gone up.
Older women are more likely to have a baby with a chromosome disorder such as Down syndrome. If you are age 25, the chance of Down syndrome is about 1 in 1,250. If you are age 35, the risk increases to 1 in 400. By age 45, it is 1 in 30.
In addition to its well-established role in neural tube defect prevention, research suggests folate plays an important role in promoting egg quality, maturation and implantation.