How age and infertility affects your chances to conceive baby, facts by Dr. Rama Sofat and Dr. Amit Sofat of Dr. Rama Sofat Hospital

How age and infertility affects your chances to conceive baby, facts by Dr. Rama Sofat and Dr. Amit Sofat of Dr. Rama Sofat Hospital

                               AGE AND INFERTILITY

                                                                 A middle aged woman

AGE

Age is no barrier to achieving many things. But it can decrease the chance of a woman getting pregnant and having a healthy baby. A woman’s age is the single most important factor affecting her fertility.

The father’s age can also impact on chance of conception, time to pregnancy, risk of miscarriage and the health of the child.

The figures about women, age and fertility

Chances of getting pregnant without IVF

·         Starting at about age 32, a woman’s chances of conceiving decrease gradually but significantly.

·         From age 35, the fertility decline speeds up.

·         By age 40, fertility has fallen by half.

·         At 30, the chance of conceiving each month is about 20%. At 40 it’s around 5%.

                                    Infertility leads to depression

Pregnancy and birth risks for older mothers

·         The risks of pregnancy and birth complications – and caesarean section – increase with age. Complications include gestational diabetes and placenta abruption.

·         Older women are more likely to have a baby with birth defects or genetic abnormalities.

·         A woman over 35 is nearly 2.5 times more likely than a younger woman to have a stillbirth. By age 40, she is more than five times more likely to have a stillbirth than a woman under 35.

·         For a woman aged 40 the risk of miscarriage is greater than the chance of a live birth.

INFERTILITY

Infertility causes misunderstanding between couples

Infertility is a condition that affects approximately 1 out of every 6 couples. An infertility diagnosis is given to a couple that has been unsuccessful in efforts to conceive over the course of one full year. When the cause of infertility exists within the female partner, it is referred to as female infertility. Female infertility factors contribute to approximately 50% of all infertility cases, and female infertility alone accounts for approximately one-third of all infertility cases.

 Anatomical or gynecological issues. 

ENDOMETROISIS

Infertility can result from damage to reproductive organs that occurs with injury or disease. One example is pelvic inflammatory disease, an infection in the upper reproductive system; scar tissue from PID could block a woman’s Fallopian tube(s) and prevent ovulation or pregnancy. Another example is endometroisis, a disorder in which tissue from inside the uterus begins to grow on other organs, causing swelling, cysts, or blockages that might prevent pregnancy in a similar way. 

Additionally, some women have congenital structural abnormalities, like a differently-shaped uterus or Fallopian tube defects, that can prevent pregnancy. An abnormality like this is usually present from birth and may not cause any other symptoms—a woman might not even know about it until she tries to get pregnant

SOLUTIONS

 Endometriosis could involve damage to the ovaries, many doctors recommend women freeze their eggs to preserve their chances at pregnancy. And for some conditions in which the structural problem can’t be fixed, in vitro fertilization offers a way to bypass the problem. . 

Egg freezing technique

Female infertility is most often treated by one or more of the following methods:

• Taking hormones to address a hormone imbalance, endometriosis, or a short menstrual cycle
• Taking medications to stimulate ovulation
• Using supplements to enhance fertility
• Taking antibiotics to remove an infection
• Having minor surgery to remove blockage or scar tissues from the fallopian tubes, uterus, or pelvic area.