Age: points to consider for conceiving
The older you are, the longer it can take to conceive, so bear this in mind when you're deciding if you should talk to your doctor about any possible problems. Then again, the older you are the less time you have, so you might want to get advice early.
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- The number of infertile women increases with age: one in ten women between the ages of 20 and 24 are infertile, but this increases to nearly 30 per cent of women aged 40 to 44.
- All treatments for infertility are significantly more successful in couples under 30.
- The overall quality of a woman's eggs diminishes with age, as does the number of healthy eggs produced at any one time.
- A woman's uterus gets less receptive to a fertilized egg as she gets older, so successful implantation is less likely.
- In women, incorrect amounts of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) can affect ovulation. In men, these same two hormones, LH and FSH, stimulate the testes to produce sperm. So, if a man's pituitary gland does not release enough FSH and LH, his ability to produce sperm will be impaired.
- In men and women, if the thyroid and adrenal glands are not functioning properly sperm production and ovulation respectively will be affected.
Posted 30.06.2010
See more in the dossier: Pregnancy over 40
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