Fertility is the ability to conceive or reproduce offspring. However, the ability to conceive starts to decline gradually as a woman ages.
Aging is something that cannot be stopped or reversed, so it’s essential for individuals that are above 30 years old and are trying to conceive to understand how aging affects fertility.
What Happens to Fertility When Women Age?
As women age, the quantity and quality of their eggs start to decrease. Women have a finite number of eggs that decrease in quality and quantity as they get older.
Women are born with a limited number of egg cells that will eventually be used and die, and the quality of eggs reduces gradually over the years, which means that older women have fewer, lower quality eggs compared to younger ones.
This decrease in quantity and quality of eggs means that the chances of becoming pregnant reduce drastically with age. In addition, women’s menstrual cycles can become irregular as they age, which also affects their potential to conceive.
For example, ovulation may be less frequent, and the quality of cervical mucus can change, making it harder for sperm to travel to the uterus.
The Effect of Aging on Male Fertility
Besides women, the reproductive system of men also tends to deteriorate as they age. As men age, their hormone levels start to decrease, and sperm cells’ quality and quantity mostly affected.
Men who are older tend to produce fewer sperm cells, and their chances of successfully fertilizing a woman’s egg decreases.
Sperm motility decreases significantly in older men, meaning that the sperm cells’ ability to effectively swim to and fertilize an egg decreases.
In addition, male aging correlates with increased frequency of sperm DNA fragmentation, which further decreases sperm quality.
How Age Affects IVF Success Rates
IVF (In vitro fertilization) is an assisted reproductive technology that helps couples that are finding it challenging to conceive naturally.
During IVF treatment, eggs are harvested from the woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm outside the body in a lab.
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Changes in Fertility with Age
The quality of the eggs used during IVF is essential for successful treatment. As explained earlier, women’s eggs’ quality reduces with age, and this affects the success of IVF treatment.
Studies have shown that the success rates of IVF treatment decrease as a woman ages. Women that are above 35 years old are less likely to have a successful IVF treatment compared to those aged below 35.
Similarly, the more advanced the age of the woman is, the more likely the treatment will be unsuccessful.
Male aging also affects IVF treatment success rates because sperm quality tends to decline with age. The quality of the sperm used during IVF treatment is vital because of the ability to fertilize an egg successfully.
Low sperm quality further decreases the chances of a successful IVF treatment.
Other Factors That Affect Fertility
Your fertility is also impacted by various medical and pre-existing factors, in addition to aging. Some of these include:.
- Illnesses such as cancer and sexually transmitted infections
- Hormonal imbalances
- Smoking and drinking alcohol
- Obesity
- Undiagnosed conditions such as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and fibroids.
Whichever Gender Is Older Matters for Fertility
If a couple is trying to conceive, whichever of the two partners is older will have the most significant impact on fertility.
While women tend to have a more visible decline in fertility with age, a man’s age can adversely affect the couple’s chances of conception.
Studies show that the impact of aging on a man’s sperm quality is evident even among men in their late 20s, and it begins to dramatically decrease by the time a man reaches age 40.
Conclusion
Age has a significant impact on fertility and decreases the chances of a successful pregnancy with increasing age, primarily due to various declining reproductive functions.
Women’s egg quantity and quality and men’s sperm quantity and motility reduce with age. This means that the older a couple gets, the more challenging it becomes to conceive naturally or even through assisted reproductive technology such as IVF.
However, other factors like medical histories and conditions can also impact fertility, highlighting the need for medical evaluations when couples experience difficulty conceiving.
