These day couples are trying to conceive late in their life cycle as more and more of them are focusing on their career goals. There are good and bad sides of this, the good side is of course to achieve the dreams of their own business. However, the side effects will be on their fertility because we need to accept the fact that after the age of 35, women’s fertility decline quite significantly. Is it still possible for women over 40 to be conceived? How many percentage of chance that couple over 40 can get pregnant?

Shanghai Medical Clinic is a primate traditional Chinese medicine center in Dubai which specializes in the treatment of female and male infertility with Chinese herbs and acupuncture since 1997. We have seen numbers of patients asking for fertility over 40. In this article, we will discuss the above issues and offer some advice for natural fertility for couples who want to conceive over the age of 40.

Is it possible to get pregnant naturally at 40?

YES!  While fertility does decline naturally as we age, starting around age 30, it is possible to become pregnant without intervention after age 40. However, women have a much lower chance of conceiving naturally after 40 than earlier in their reproductive years. Fertility specialists quote approximately a 5% chance per menstrual cycle of getting pregnant naturally after age 40 vs. a 25% chance per cycle for women in their 20’s, which is when fertility typically peaks.

The reason for the decline in successful pregnancies after 40 is multifactorial. The rate of miscarriage is about 40% after the age of 40. This is due to many reasons, but the biggest is a higher chance of genetic abnormalities in each egg. Women’s ovarian reserve also decreases over time, meaning they have fewer eggs by age 40.

How many eggs does a woman have at 40?

When girls are born, their ovaries contain all the eggs they will ever have – about a million in total! This number declines as they age. Women lose about 30 immature eggs a day! This means that by the time a woman reaches puberty her ovaries contain 300,000 eggs; by age 30 she’s down to 100,000. Estimates say that by age 40 women only have about 20,000 eggs remaining.

Ovarian reserve can be tested by a physician with a blood test called the Anti-Mullerian Hormone. AMH is a hormone produced by the follicles in a woman’s ovaries where egg cells develop, and it declines through a woman’s reproductive lifespan. The lower a woman’s AMH number, the fewer eggs remain in her ovarian reserve. A woman’s AMH test results are just one piece of data in her fertility health, another important factor is the quality of the remaining eggs.

Are my eggs bad after 40?

All women have a percentage of eggs that are genetically abnormal. This means that even if those eggs are fertilized, the pregnancy will not end in a live or genetically normal baby. The percentage of normal eggs a woman has decreases as she ages. At age 25, a woman has approximately 75% normal eggs. By age 35, that number drops to around 45%, and by 40, it’s around 20-30%. This is one reason why most physicians recommend genetic testing for conditions such as Trisomy 21 in a pregnancy over age 35.

At peak fertility (in their 20’s), the chance of a fertile couple conceiving in any one month is about 20-25%. After a year of unprotected intercourse, approximately 85-90% of those couples will conceive. It is generally recommend fertility testing for couples under 35 who have not become pregnant in one year of trying. By age 35, the chance of a successful natural pregnancy drops to 10-15% per cycle, and by 40, the chances hover around 5%. This does not mean conceiving after 40 is impossible, just that it will likely take longer. That’s why the recommendation for considering fertility testing after 40 is only 6 months.

How do I improve fertility after age 40?

There are many ways to improve fertility in general, and they become especially important after age 40. Besides naturally declining fertility, another challenge women over 40 face is that many will have been diagnosed with other conditions which can cause pregnancy complications and/or more difficulties getting pregnant. Examples are obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disorders, fibroids, and endometriosis. This may mean women with these medical conditions should change your diet, work on eating healthy, do more exercise, and weight loss or being more aggressive in controlling some conditions like diabetes. If you hope to know more, please read “Top 5 Tips on Chinese Herbs for Fertility over 40” for more information.

Many couples choose to undergo assisted reproductive therapies such as IVF, and more and more people are now turning to Chinese medicine and acupuncture to help along with IVF. Chinese medicine can offer hope and give an opportunity for women over 40 and infertility couples to extend their reproductive window, helping them to reach full fertility potential. Couples with fertility problems are more likely to get pregnant using traditional Chinese medicine. In fact, research has shown that couples using Chinese herbal medicine are twice as likely to conceive within a four-month period and that acupuncture could potentially halve the time it takes to become pregnant. 

It is important to take a prenatal vitamin daily when trying to conceive. They help you get the nutrients needed for healthy development of a fetus if you do become pregnant – even before you know it. Some reproductive endocrinologists also recommend supplementation with CoQ10 to help with egg quality.

Is there help if I haven’t gotten pregnant after 40?

YES! Our TCM reproductive experts, Dr. Wang Xiaozhong specializes in assisting women with fertility issues. After age 40, we recommend having a consultation with a specialist if you haven’t become pregnant within 6 months of trying. There are many options for how to proceed depending on your age and health history, your partner’s age and health history, etc. You can go over these options together and figure out the best plan for you and your partner. You can call us for free consulting and we can help pinpoint areas for improvement and give you personalized recommendations. We wish you the best of luck! To schedule a preconception visit, call us at +971 4343 4811 or set an appointment online. 

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