AGE AND FERTILITY

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows in a warrior’s hand
Psalm 127: 3 & 4

"HOPE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE"

Many women who are struggling with infertility, will find that they are having children later in their lives as a result (myself included) as I had my son at 38.
There is no need to panic though, because while it is known that at puberty a woman’s eggs would have already declined by 50%, after 30 by 90% and after 40 many women only have 3% of their eggs remaining, this is not the case for every woman because many women over thirty go on to having healthy pregnancies and many women over 40, still go on to having healthy pregnancies.

This statistics is enough to frighten us though (and it is still frightening to me), but I am comforted knowing that this is only statistics and does not mean that myself and many others will be included and so I believe our baby making plans should not at be affected by this. The best we can do is to make sure we are as healthy as possible before and during our pregnancies, because this is only what we have control over.

This affects men also, because as they age, their fertility is also affected as research has shown that a women younger than 30 years old was 25% less likely to conceive a baby if her male partner was 40 years or older and miscarriages are more likely in couples who are 40 and older.

For more reading on age and fertility, please visit the links below:

http://www.advancedfertility.com/testovar.htm
http://www.extendfertility.com/why/importance.php?ls=78
http://menshealth.about.com/od/conditions/a/Age_fertility.htm

Be encouraged therefore, and until next time, keep clinging to hope.