What is the best age to get pregnant? If you are thinking about starting a family (or adding to your current family), then many factors need to be considered to determine if it’s the right time. Not only do you need to decide if you are ready to become a parent, but it’s also important to know that fertility can be affected by age.
We live in a time when contraception is widely available, giving couples more control to decide when they want to start their family. Over the years, the average age of parenthood has increased. At the same time, many couples are facing issues with infertility.
It is natural for fertility to decline with age, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a baby later in life. Instead, you need to consider your personal situation and consult with a doctor if you need support with family planning.
Peak Fertility Age Range
The best chance for getting pregnant is in your 20s. During these years, women are most fertile and pregnancy risks are the lowest. Most women have good quality eggs in their 20s, which increases the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. Getting pregnant at any age can be complicated, depending on your unique health concerns and situation. For more information, read How do I know if I’m fertile?
Even though natural fertility peaks in the early 20s, many women have healthy, successful pregnancies in their 30s and 40s. Also, keep in mind that it is a misconception that women are fertile until menopause. Most women in their mid-40s are no longer able to have a successful pregnancy, but the average age of menopause doesn’t occur until about 51.
Egg Quantity and Quality Over Time
Keep in mind that women are born with all the eggs they will have. Most women begin life with about 1 million eggs in their ovarian reserve. This number decreases with time. Only about 300,000 eggs remain when a girl reaches puberty. By age 37, only about 25,000 of those eggs are left.
Women and men are different in this way because a man continues producing sperm, but women have a limited number of eggs available. Through the reproductive years, most women only ovulate around 300 eggs. The majority of the eggs go through a process known as Atresia. This process is degenerative in nature and happens regardless of the normalcy of menstrual cycles or the use of birth control. Certain lifestyle factors can increase damage to the eggs, such as smoking.
Genetic Health of the Eggs
For conception to occur, an egg needs to ovulate so it moves from the ovary and down the fallopian tube. Then it can be ready for fertilization and be good enough quality to begin life. In other words, the egg needs to be genetically sound – with no cellular damage.
With age, there are more genetically abnormal eggs coming from the ovaries. As with any other cell in the body, eggs are subject to damage over the years, which can make them “abnormal.” So, the older a woman is, the lower likelihood that she ovulates a healthy egg. Since the quality of the egg has a direct impact on the health of the pregnancy, it’s important to evaluate age and egg quality if you are considering pregnancy.
One other factor that can affect pregnancy is other health concerns that correspond with age. For example, certain medical conditions are more common in women over 35 including high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
These diagnoses can increase the possibility of complications in pregnancy such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Since the risk of these medical conditions is higher in the late 30s and through the 40s, it’s likely that your doctor will advise extra monitoring and testing.
Getting Pregnant in Your 30s
Thirty-two is the typical age when fertility starts to decline, and this decline speeds up after age 35. It’s still possible to have a healthy pregnancy in this stage of life. But the data shows that the risk for genetic abnormalities and miscarriage starts to go up after 35. Additionally, there is a higher risk of complications in the pregnancy when you are delivering a baby later in life.
Getting pregnant in your 30s means that your doctor will likely recommend additional testing and screening for both you and the baby. Modern medical advances make it possible to identify a variety of potential concerns in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
Even though fertility starts to decrease during this time, it doesn’t mean that a woman’s ability to conceive comes to a halt at the age of 35. The truth is that many women in our modern society choose to wait until their 30s to begin having children. Being proactive in taking care of your health can have a positive impact to decrease pregnancy complications. But there isn’t much that can be done to off-set the natural age-related decrease in fertility.
Getting Pregnant in Your 40s
Age 40 is when a woman experiences a steep decline in her ability to get pregnant naturally. The odds of conceiving within 3 months at age 40 are 7% (less than half compared to the 20% odds of conceiving at age 25). That means if 100 40-year-old women are trying to get pregnant, only 7 of them will succeed that month. The remaining 93 women will need to try again.
Not only do the egg quantities decrease with age, but the quality of the eggs also declines. It’s more common for older eggs to have chromosome problems, increasing the likelihood of birth defects. Additionally, the risk of pregnancy complications continues to rise with age. Pregnant women in their 40s are more likely to experience:
- Premature birth
- Stillbirth
- C-section delivery
- Low birth weight
- Birth defects
Additionally, the risk of miscarriage goes up in older women. Often, miscarriage happens because of the quality of the eggs. Since older eggs have a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities, there is a higher chance of the pregnancy failing.
Pregnancy and Conception Options Later in Life
Fertility treatments can be used for women at any point in the childbearing years. But the chances of achieving a successful pregnancy continue to decrease with age. Older women experiencing fertility issues might consider using a healthy donor egg. This process involves fertilizing the donor egg with your partner’s sperm. Then, the fertilized egg is transferred to your uterus.
Since fertility starts to decline in the 30s, some women decide to freeze their eggs for the potential of using them with fertility treatments in the future.
Women over the age of 35 still have a possibility of a healthy pregnancy. But there’s no question that a woman’s age affects the success rates of both natural conception and fertility treatments. Women might have a harder time conceiving as the egg supply drops with age.
Each person is unique, and the timing of life decisions should depend on your circumstances. The best solution is for women to be informed so they can make the decision based on the timing that is right for their needs.
