{"id":67625,"date":"2022-09-14T12:07:21","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T11:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fertilityroad.com\/?p=67625"},"modified":"2025-05-15T16:39:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:39:46","slug":"how-old-is-too-old-for-ivf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fertilityroad.com\/da\/mag\/how-old-is-too-old-for-ivf\/","title":{"rendered":"How Old is Too Old for IVF?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, I will explain how age affects fertility for both men and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Female fertility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with talking about female fertility. Women are born with around 250,000 eggs and throughout their life, from when they have their first period to when they reach the menopause the body draws on these – you cannot produce more eggs beyond what you were born with. Only a few hundred thousand will still exist by puberty, and a mere few hundred will be released through ovulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quantity and quality of eggs is called \u2018ovarian reserve\u2019 and this diminishes due to normal ageing, but also due to smoking, alcohol or drug use, treatment for cancer, or sometimes for no known reason. On average, female fertility will start declining from the age of 35 and most women will experience a steeper decline after the age of 39.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know that women under the age of 35 may have a better chance of becoming pregnant naturally than somebody aged 37+ and generally speaking, the same age scale applies for assisted conception, with the chances of IVF success declining with advancing female chronological age. As a result, I would strongly recommend women over 35 looking to have a baby should consider conception support sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Older women tend to have eggs of poor quality, and poor quality eggs are more likely than not to create poor quality embryos. A woman\u2019s lifestyle plays a role too. Studies have shown us that parents-to-be who smoke, drink excessively, and take drugs can affect the quality of their eggs. However, ovarian and chronological ageing are the main determining factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is due to oxidative stress, which is an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body. As you get older, your body ages, and this is the same for the cells. We know that oxidative stress accumulates within the body, and that this causes damage, including to your DNA. We know that DNA damage affects fertilisation, and the quality of embryos created. The reason why older women have more problems getting pregnant is because of the breakdown of cells. If the same eggs were fertilised at the age of 20, there is a higher chance of producing a healthy baby than at 45. This is the reason why I discourage my patients older than 37 to freeze their eggs, because realistically the chances of those eggs surviving the freezing and defrosting process and being fertilised, and then creating a healthy embryo that could implant and grow to a healthy pregnancy are very slim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there currently is no female age limit in the UK, in my medical practice I apply common sense, and clinically sound advice. I would not put someone through IVF who has very, very low ovarian function, and I certainly wouldn\u2019t recommend IVF to somebody who has had IVF before and didn\u2019t produce any healthy eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a woman is thinking about preserving her fertility, she might want to consider freezing her eggs, ideally before she reaches age 35. Freezing eggs after this age is unlikely to give the same success rate. Egg freezing involves collecting a woman\u2019s eggs, freezing them and thawing them at a later date in order to fertilise during treatment. The younger a woman is when she has the procedure, the better quality the eggs and the chances of pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the statistics around IVF can be quite depressing; we know that IVF is successful in one third of cases. However, when embarking on treatment, you need to remember: you are not a statistic. You are an individual case, with individual lifestyles and your own health background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Du er m\u00e5ske interesseret i at l\u00e6se: IVF-succesrater forklaret<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, age isn\u2019t the only determining factor when it comes to success. We need to consider ovarian reserve and reducing ovarian function, which can be assessed by a blood test and ultrasound scan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Esther Marban, fertility expert at Clinica Tambre<\/a> explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first one, which is the most common one, is the in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. How does it work? Normally, the treatment starts by stimulating the ovaries using medication to encourage them to work as much as possible. In more than 90% of the treatments, we prefer using the ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) technique, where a single sperm cell is injected into the cytoplasm of a mature egg. This technique helps ensure successful fertilization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Du er m\u00e5ske interesseret i at l\u00e6se:<\/strong> IVF-behandling - etablering og forst\u00e5else af dine personlige gr\u00e6nser<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Male fertility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We need to talk about male fertility too. Is the sperm healthy, and does it have any DNA damage? Discussing statistics around the woman\u2019s age is just one small piece of the puzzle. Male fertility declines like female fertility. But the difference is, female fertility is normally associated with running out of eggs. In men, the testicles produce sperm constantly, so male fertility issues are less likely to be related to running out of sperm, it\u2019s more to do with sperm quality. Men\u2019s fertility declines with age at a more constant, slower rate than women\u2019s and as such society has led us to believe that fertility is a female issue. However, the health of the sperm is significant to IVF success too. Older men may still be producing and overall have a good quantity and concentration of sperm, but the quality \u2013 including motility and morphology – may decline over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as age, it\u2019s important for men to know smoking and excessive alcohol intake can also cause DNA fragmentation. This means that the sperm becomes damaged and that can lead to subfertility, to miscarriage and potentially to a birth defect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Du er m\u00e5ske interesseret i at l\u00e6se: IVF-teknikker til at hj\u00e6lpe mandlig infertilitet<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the very first appointment with your GP, the focus is often weighted for women. Women may have multiple tests, and gynaecological care, while a man may simply have a semen analysis. This can have a detrimental effect on a man\u2019s confidence, relationships, and his emotional state. Men are not encouraged to ask questions and find out what\u2019s going on from their point of view. Some men can end up feeling like a spare part throughout the fertility journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While men don\u2019t experience a drop in fertility after a certain age in the same way women do, sperm counts do deteriorate. I would encourage any man facing potential fertility issues to get thoroughly tested, and go and see a urologist if you can. Once we understand medically what the problem may be, we can act accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many changes that can be made to improve sperm count and quality. Sperm are generally very easily influenced by simple lifestyle tweaks. Sperm have a 60-90 day development cycle so three to four months of little changes and you may well see a big difference:<\/p>\n\n\n\n