If you’re 35 or older and wish to have a baby, you might have questions running through your mind, such as Will my age affect my pregnancy outcome…or will I be able to have a normal birth? To some, it may seem as if it’s too late to try due to the universal belief that the ideal age to conceive is between your early twenties till before your mid-thirties.
But, have you missed your chance at motherhood? We think not!
What are your choices?
Rest assured, you can become a mom in your late 30s or even into your 40s, although you may not get pregnant as quickly or easily as a 20-something would. If it can’t take place naturally, there are many advancements in the medical field that focus on helping women conceive successfully even after their ideal age.
There’s no doubt it’s easier to get pregnant when you’re younger. You’re born with a set number of eggs in your ovaries, and you lose at least one with each menstrual cycle. Their quality also declines as you age. That may sound depressing, but in the end, if you’re smart about it, there’s always a way to get pregnant.
The chance of conceiving in relation to age
A woman in her 20s has a 20% chance of getting pregnant during a single menstrual cycle, says Alan Copperman, MD, director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. By her mid-30s, her chances are about 15% per cycle. At age 40, they drop to 10%, and by age 45, she has about a 3% chance of getting pregnant during each cycle.
Mind your timing
The younger you are the fewer issues you may run into when trying for a baby. If you’re 35 or older, you may need science to assist you in getting pregnant. In this regard, it’s about watching out for the ideal period of time, when unprotected intercourse will most likely result in a pregnancy. For this, you’ll need an ovulation predictor kit or a fertility kit that tests for the Luteinising Hormone (LH). It’ll help you figure out when your ovaries will release an egg. That’s the process called ovulation. These ovulation test kits are available at most pharmacies. We recommend the award-winning Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test.
Face reality, do the necessary
“As you get older, you have to work a little harder, and it may take longer,” says M. Kelly Shanahan, MD, author of Your Over-35 Week-by-Week Pregnancy Guide. “When you’re 25 and trying to get pregnant, it might take 2 to 3 months. For someone who’s 35, it might take 6 to 9 months. By 45, it will probably take a trip to the fertility specialist.”
Lifestyles count, so change whatever’s necessary
Many women can’t come to terms with the fact that their lifestyles may be the cause of their inability to conceive. A healthy weight and not smoking, using drugs, or drinking alcohol helps. So does a good, well-rounded diet that includes vitamins, minerals, protein, and healthy fats. A folic acid supplement is necessary, months before you even try for a baby.
Seek advice from a fertility specialist
A person’s ability to reproduce is understandably a big deal – we get it! For women, it represents almost her entire womanhood, for it is a gift to be able to carry a child and bring him/her into the world. When this ability is challenged, many women end up feeling ‘faulty’, discouraged, and even guilty for not being able to bear a child. Feeling this way is truly necessary for in these modern times, help is just an appointment away – which means, motherhood too could be mere months away from now!
Seeking help from a fertility specialist is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when motherhood beckons and your body is not cooperating. Book an appointment, and see how it goes. You can expect to have your eggs and fallopian tubes checked, along with the father’s sperm, to look for any problems that he might be having too. The treatment that follows will be based on the findings and your personal needs (or that of the father’s). These might also include treatment for other health problems that may be linked, like uterine fibroids or blocked fallopian tubes. You might also be asked to lose or gain weight or be prescribed with medicines to help prompt ovulation.
Don’t waste any more time
If you’ve been trying for six months and still haven’t conceived, don’t wait any longer. See a fertility specialist for a better chance of getting pregnant. See it this way: If you wait for another six months, that’s six month’s worth of eggs wasted, for they’ll no longer be available to you.
In-vitro fertilization (IVF), an expensive procedure, is available locally and many couples have successfully become parents through it. It’s when doctors combine the sperm and egg in a lab before placing it back in the mother’s womb. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the only answer to a women’s inability to conceive though, for many people who’ve had trouble getting pregnant, successfully conceived without it. But, it’s great to know though, that if all else fails, there’s still a way to get pregnant and have your baby.
Life is great, isn’t it? Have a blessed journey if you are planning a pregnancy!
Try this
Some experts conclude that the best time for intercourse is a few days before ovulation – that way your partner’s sperm will be at just the right spot when your egg arrives to be fertilised.
