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If you’re considering accessing fertility treatment now or in the future, you may be wondering whether or not there is an upper age limit that might prevent you from starting a family. Fertility does decrease with age; a fertile person in their twenties will have around a 1 in 10 chance of conceiving naturally each month, by 38 this will almost halve to a 1 in 20 chance each month, and by 46 the odds are around 1 in 100.
Luckily there are many treatments available to help people conceive in their older years. To help you discover more, a fertility clinic in London has shared the following information.
To answer this question properly, it is firstly important to delve a little into the different types of treatments available. While menopause can prevent a person from conceiving a child naturally, this doesn’t mean that fertility treatments are no longer available to help them start a family.
Donor eggs can be implanted in post-menopausal people, with a relatively good chance of a successful pregnancy, though many clinics will place an age limit on donor-egg treatments.
Surrogacy in conjunction with egg/embryo freezing or egg donation is an option for people who are older or unable to carry their baby personally. So, with that in mind, the answer is actually: no, there is no age limit.
Specific treatments may be unsuitable for people in their older years. Some clinics will advise people against using their own eggs in IVF treatments after a certain age as the chance of having a successful pregnancy decreases.
However, if you do have time on your side, egg freezing is an option that can preserve viable eggs to be used later in life. IVF isn’t the only option for older people struggling to conceive pre-menopause, intrauterine insemination in conjunction with medication to stimulate egg production is another option for people who still have quality eggs available.
Consulting a physician in regard to your personal circumstances and medical history will help you to establish which treatment will be right for you.