Yes, it's possible to get pregnant at 45, though conceiving naturally is unlikely. A woman's prime fertility time is between her late teens and her 20s, and once you reach your mid-30s, your ability to get pregnant starts to decline.
Chances of Getting Pregnant at 45 and Older
Copperman. Research has found that success rates are only slightly over 1%, and most clinics recommend using eggs donated by someone younger for those who want to conceive between ages 46 and 50.
It does happen, it is just less likely. Yes, two of my friends had babies at 45 and 47, both unplanned and conceived the old-fashioned way! Others have had children at 42, 43 and 44, again without intervention. So it could happen, although it's statistically less likely.
Yes. Women over 40 may have a higher risk pregnancy, as age is a risk factor for new older mothers. Older women experience first-trimester miscarriage and pregnancy loss with greater frequency than younger women.
To casual observers, it's the miracle of my story, and the unlikelihood of my family, that stands out: I got pregnant naturally at 46 after a lifetime of infertility. With that unexpected pregnancy came an unexpected family. And it's true—being pregnant at 46 and becoming a mom is a miracle.
Luckily, while the risks of complications are lower in your 20s and 30s, you can have a healthy pregnancy in your 40s, particularly if you are otherwise in good health and get regular prenatal care.
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.
For most people, estrogen levels begin to fall gradually when they are in their 40s. A person will continue to ovulate and menstruate, but periods may become irregular or less frequent.
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 is true that fertility does decline with age, but many women conceive naturally aged over 40 and go on to have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
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.
Brigitte McQueen became a mother at 44.
Still, Ms. McQueen longed for a baby. In her 40s, she and her then husband opted for embryo donation at a fertility clinic in Sacramento. She had her first daughter at 44 and a second at 46.
It's harder to stay pregnant
van Dis, women between 40 and 44 have a 33 percent chance of miscarriage. Across all pregnancies, miscarriage risk is believed to be closer to 10 to 20 percent, though estimates can vary.
Miscarriage issues
Though studies show that 10-25% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, with advanced maternal age, this risk increases exponentially. To wit, between the ages of 40-44, 34% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. After 45, this number jumps to 53%.
Down syndrome occurs in people of all races and economic levels. The risk increases with the mother's age (1 in 1250 for a 25 year old mother to 1 in 1000 at age 31, 1 in 400 at age 35, and about 1 in 100 at age 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.
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.
Although uncommon, spontaneous pregnancies occur among women aged >44 years. Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the North American Menopause Society recommend that women continue contraceptive use until menopause or age 50–55 years (333,334).
By the time a woman reaches 40, as many as 60 percent of her eggs will contain an abnormal number of chromosomes. In other words, chromosomal abnormalities are more likely to develop in the eggs of older women.
As you can see in the graph below, a 44-year-old woman has around a 3% chance of having a child with Down syndrome. The flip side of that means she has a 97% chance of not having a child with Down syndrome. Newberger. “Down syndrome: prenatal risk assessment and diagnosis.” Am Fam Physician.
A known risk factor for Down syndrome is increasing maternal age. As seen in Figure 4, women who are 35 to 39 years old are approximately 4.5 times more likely to have a child with Down syndrome compared with women in the 25 to 29 age group. This risk increases to 15.7 for mothers age 40 years or older.