Am I Too Old to Have Kids? What to Know About Fertility and Aging

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Baby fever? It can strike at any age. If you’ve waited until a bit later in life to try to conceive, you may wonder if you’re too old to have a baby.

A pregnancy after age 35 automatically puts you in the “advanced maternal age” (AMA) category. But try your best to not let that label intimidate you — successful pregnancy after 35 is still common! But what about after 40? 45?

While the road to getting pregnant may be harder for some after a certain age, others may sail through relatively easily. There are many factors at play, including things like your current health status and how close you are to menopause.

Here’s more about your chances of conceiving by age, what risks may be involved for you and your baby, and what questions you may want to ask your doctor before you embark on this journey.

Pregnancy success at different ages

It’s true that there’s a biological clock of sorts. It starts when you get your first period and stops when you reach menopause. As time goes on, your chances of having a successful pregnancy become less and less as your egg reserve diminishes, your egg quality decreases, and your hormones change.

Fertility rates trend with the average number of eggs a woman has at any given age. In general, you begin puberty with between 300,000 to 500,000 eggs. This number drops to around 25,000 at age 37 and continues dropping to 1,000 or fewer by age 51.

How does this look exactly? Well, the likelihood of becoming pregnant naturally (without medical assistance) after a year of trying is as follows:

Posted : 2024-08-26 16:59

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