Fertility at forty – or even thirty

Compared to our grandmothers’ generation, today’s thirty and forty-somethings look and feel so young and healthy that, it is difficult to remember that their reproductive life-span is just as short as it was one hundred or one thousand years ago. 30 years ago, the average age of new mothers was 26. Now it is 30 and climbing rapidly.

• 12% of births in the UK are to women aged 35 or over (a 50% increase in a decade)
• First babies born to women over 35 now account for 7% of all UK births.

• Even young couples with normal fertility (and trying quite hard) have only a 25 – 30% chance of establishing a pregnancy each month they try.
• When a woman reaches her mid-30’s, this monthly chance drops to 10 – 15%
• By her early 40’s it is less than 5% a month AND she is facing a 40% chance of miscarriage even if she can achieve a positive pregnancy test.

Since fertility is to a large extent genetically inherited, a woman can get a good idea of her likely reproductive prospects by finding out about her mother’s experience. If her mother had difficulty getting pregnant after her late twenties and had a relatively early menopause (younger than 45 – 50years) there is a chance that her daughter may experience similar problems. Women whose mothers and grandmothers had babies effortlessly in their late thirties or early forties may be reassured that they will probably be able to do the same.