Woman’s Age and Family Planning

General Information on Age and Fertility

It is still not widely known that a woman’s fertility begins to decline after age 30, drops sharply at an average age of 37, and is significantly reduced by age 42. The menstrual cycle also becomes shorter around age 40 and later becomes irregular. These biological processes are linked to the ovarian egg reserve, which numbers several hundred thousand at birth but declines relatively quickly. Unlike a man’s sperm, the egg reserve is not replenished through cell division. Menstruation ceases entirely at an average age of 51 (menopause).

Above: Chances of conception in a natural cycle for couples without fertility problems. Humans are fertile throughout the year, but even at a young age, conception is not particularly efficient—most embryos that form fail to implant even in a natural environment. The decline in women has a quantitative component (measurable by AMH, which varies from woman to woman) and a qualitative component that depends purely on age.

Above: The progression of AMH levels over a woman’s fertile period—there are significant individual differences, but the decline with age is slow. As mentioned in the video below, natural fertility is completely independent of AMH levels as long as ovulation occurs.

Above: On the qualitative front, the proportion of genetically normal embryos decreases very significantly in our biologists’ test tubes (green bars). While preimplantation genetic testing prevents the transfer of embryos with no chance of survival, it does not provide a sustainable solution to the problem of the biological clock. It would be better to have children earlier!
 

Short video by Dr. Singer on AMH and fertility