One woman shuffles from one fixed-term contract to the next, while the other simply does not have the right partner in sight – there are many reasons why many women postpone having children. The problem: The older we get, the more difficult it becomes for women to get pregnant. At 23, fertility is around the highest, between 25 and 30 the pregnancy probability per cycle is around 23 percent.
Only every sixth woman gets pregnant at 35 per cycle
From the age of 35, the probability drops rapidly and is only 16 percent, as Corinna Mann, senior physician at a Vienna fertility center, explains in a guest article on "Focus.de". Specifically, this means: From the age of 35, only every sixth woman becomes pregnant per cycle. Unfortunately, a healthy lifestyle does not change that, unlike in many other areas of our lives, nature has not adapted to social developments in terms of reproduction.
However, many women seem to hide these facts. According to a survey, around half of all couples between 30 and 39 have never had any doubts that their own desire to have children will still be fulfilled. Only six percent assume that age is the reason why it has not worked so far and every fourth woman over 40 still considers herself fertile. According to Mann, one reason for this: reports from the media in which women beyond the age of 40 or even 50 have become mothers again. It is often concealed that artificial fertilization was necessary or even the donated egg of a younger woman.
Great trust in science
Speaking of artificial insemination: This possible method of conception also seems to be one of the reasons why so many women are confident of being able to become a mother again late. From the mid-40s, both natural conception and pregnancy using reproductive medicine are almost impossible for most women: The probability of a 43-year-old getting pregnant is only ten percent even with artificial insemination. And only about six out of 100 of these women have a successful pregnancy.
Why are we only fertile for such a short time?
Women are already born with around one million egg cells – but in the course of life this number only decreases, never increases. At the start of puberty, there are only 300,000 left, of which only 300 are ultimately used for ovulation. The remaining cells regress almost completely in the course of life. One in 1,000 women under the age of 30 may also suffer from an overall low egg count. This occurs, for example, in smokers or due to the disease endometriosis.
And what does that mean for us?
In order to avoid unwanted childlessness, women should try to address the desire to have children under 35. If the partner is missing, co-parenting or sperm donation could be an alternative. Couples should, however, speak explicitly about whether a child is suitable for both – and if so, when. So nobody assumes wrong expectations.
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