Female fertility begins to decline many years prior to menopause despite continued regular menstrual cycles. The probability of a live birth decreases 3-5% per year after the age of 30 and at an even faster rate after the age of 40. Unfortunately, as women age they also have a higher miscarriage rate.
The decreased probability of a pregnancy is due to the normal changes which occur in the woman's ovaries with aging. Most women have about 400,000 eggs in their ovaries at puberty. For each egg that matures and ovulates during a menstrual cycle, at least 500 to 1000 do not fully mature and are reabsorbed by the body.
As a woman ages, the remaining eggs in her ovaries also age, rendering them less capable of fertilization and of being able to develop into normal embryos. In addition, fertilization of these eggs is associated with a higher risk of genetic disorders. Fortunately, the vast majority of genetically abnormal pregnancies end very early, often resembling a normal menstrual period.
It is now possible to genetically test early embryos (PGD: Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis) as a part of in vitro fertilization, oocyte donation and gestational surrogacy treatments and minimize the likelihood of transferring genetically abnormal embryos into the uterus.
Risk of Chromosomal Abnormality in Newborns by Maternal Age
| Maternal Age | Risk of Chromosomal Abnormalities |
| 20 | 1/526 |
| 25 | 1/476 |
| 30 | 1/385 |
| 35 | 1/192 |
| 40 | 1/66 |
| 41 | 1/53 |
| 42 | 1/42 |
| 43 | 1/33 |
| 44 | 1/26 |
| 45 | 1/21 |
Even with advanced infertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization which is among the most powerful techniques to help infertile couples conceive, fertility decreases and the chance of miscarriage increases with advancing female age.
The following illustrations, from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) compilation of national IVF data, show the impact of female age on the female fertility potential.
Please note that these graphs represent the nation-wide statistic; the live birth probabilities at Nova IVF are higher.
Many infertility specialists recommend that infertile women over the age of approximately 38 years should have aggressive treatment and proceed to in vitro fertilization quickly before their remaining fertility potential is lost.
IVF live birth rates begin to decline in the early thirties and are very low in the early forties. The likelihood of a fertilized egg implanting is related to the age of the woman who produced the egg and not to the receptivity of the uterus. Egg donors are typically in their twenties, thus the live birth rate for egg donation treatment varies only slightly across all age groups of the recipients.
This graph shows that a woman's age also affects her risk for miscarriage. The rates begin to increase among women in their mid-to-late thirties and continue to increase with age, reaching 43% at age 42 years. The miscarriage rates observed among women undergoing ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies, i.e., IVF) procedures appear to be no higher than in pregnancies conceived through intercourse.
Please contact us if you would like any additional information regarding the impact of female age on the female fertility potential or any other areas of infertility.
If you decide to have an appointment at Nova IVF as quickly as possible, please go to Initial Consultation at Nova.
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