Age and Fertility: What You Should Know in Your 20s, 30s and 40s

A woman’s age is the most important factor affecting her fertility and chance of having a baby. As men and women age, their potential to have children naturally decreases, though the exact time this starts to happen varies.

All about fertility in your 20s

Whether you’re ready to start thinking about a family or not, there are some important things you should know about fertility while you’re in your 20s. This information could affect how you view your fertility and the idea of getting pregnant in the future. Here’s what you need to know:

• Fertility
  Fertility declines at a different rate for every single woman and can happen as early as her late 20s.
• Lifestyle Choices
  The lifestyle choices you make now could heavily affect your fertility in your thirties. If you love white rice, white sugar, smoking and/or adult beverages, it could make it more difficult to conceive down the road.

All about fertility in your 30s

A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have. As she ages, so do her eggs—and their number and quality reduce over time. Here’s what you need to know about fertility on your 30s:

• Fertility
  Between the ages of 33 and 42 (with an average age of 38), the loss of immature eggs accelerates. This marks the beginning of decline in a woman’s fertility, which eventually leads to menopause.
• Preservation
  If you are a woman in your 30s and aren’t quite ready to start a family, it might be time to consider egg freezing (cryopreservation). Egg freezing allows women to use their young, healthy eggs to help them achieve pregnancy later in life, when they are ready. Frozen eggs are viable and may be used to achieve pregnancy for more than 10 years.

All about fertility in your 40s

Your chances of conceiving naturally in any given month lower significantly once you reach 40 years of age. In fact, the average 40-year-old woman has only a 8 percent chance of getting pregnant each month..

• Fertility
  Women in their 40s are less likely to become pregnant naturally due to poor egg quality. As women age, more and more of their eggs have either too many or too few chromosomes, which can significantly lower the chance of pregnancy and increase the chance for miscarriage or birth defects.
• Assisted Reproductive Technologies
  Whether you froze your eggs in your 20s or 30s or have decided to use an egg donor, assisted reproductive technologies (like in vitro fertilization) can help you achieve pregnancy in your 40s.

If you are a woman in your 20s or 30s and would like to learn more about preserving your fertility with egg freezing (Cryopreservation) in Columbus, Akron, Canton & Youngstown, Ohio, contact the skilled physicians at Reproductive Gynecology & Infertility.