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.
Pregnancy after age 45 years is infrequent and the mother and baby should be considered as a high risk. There is a greater incidence of spontaneous abortion, gestational trophoblastic disease and chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus.
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 highly unusual for a woman to get pregnant on her own after age 45. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2008 there were 0.7 births per 1,000 women ages 45 to 49, compared with 9.9 births per 1,000 women ages 44 to 40.
If you are older than age 35 and planning to have your first baby, you may have concerns about becoming pregnant later in life. You may have heard that a woman's risk for complications during pregnancy goes up after age 35. The fact is that most women in their 30s and 40s have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
A woman's biological clock
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.
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.
Your Chances of Getting Pregnant: 45 and Older
At 45, your chances of getting pregnant are 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.
As women age, the risk of problems in pregnancy increases, including miscarriage, chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome, and other complications such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and bleeding.
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.
“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.
Nancy Grace. Though she had difficulty conceiving, Grace welcomed healthy twins John and Lucy in 2007 at 48. "I can't believe they're mine and that this is my life," the CNN anchor told Good Housekeeping. "I just never believed this could happen to me."
The oldest recorded mother to date to conceive was 73 years, while the youngest mother was 5 years old. According to statistics from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, in the UK more than 20 babies are born to women over age 50 per year through in-vitro fertilization with the use of donor oocytes (eggs).
If your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days and your period arrives like clockwork, it's likely that you'll ovulate on day 14. That's halfway through your cycle. Your fertile window begins on day 10. You're more likely to get pregnant if you have sex at least every other day between days 10 and 14 of a 28-day cycle.
Incorporate whole grains, lean meats, leafy greens, fresh vegetables, fruit and nuts in your diet to give your body what it needs to support your eggs. Avoid processed foods and meats when possible and limit your salt and sugar intake. -Maintain a healthy weight: You should strive for a healthy BMI (body mass index).
There are two good ways to measure egg count: an antral follicle count and an AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone) test. During an antral follicle count, a doctor uses ultrasound to count the visible follicles.
It is also a myth that your eggs are only lost during ovulation. In fact, more of your eggs will be lost due to degeneration than ovulation. Even though you have poor quality eggs, you are still able to get pregnant.
Hormone testing to assess egg quality
Three simple blood tests can check hormone levels and reveal more information about egg quality. These tests may also help diagnose infertility in a younger woman, who ordinarily would not be experiencing diminished ovarian reserve or poor quality: Basal FSH.
Women lose 90 per cent of the eggs in their ovaries before the age of 30, new research has shown. The mathematical model shows that the average woman has only 12 per cent of her eggs left by the age of 30 and only three per cent by the age of 40.
A woman is born with all her eggs. Once she starts her periods, 1 egg develops and is released during each menstrual cycle.