We often talk about the biological clock and assume it only ticks for women, but conceiving a pregnancy is a shared journey and age plays a significant role for both partners. In this blog we discuss fertility and age in both men and women.
Understanding the timeline isn’t about pressure, it’s about knowing the facts so you can make the best choices for the future whenever you’re ready.
Fertility and age in women
You are born with all the eggs you’ll ever have, about 2 million. By puberty that falls to roughly 400,000 and by 37 roughly 25,000 eggs remain. But it’s not just the number of eggs, it’s about the quality of the eggs. In your 20s, the chance of conceiving each month is about 25%, but by the age of 40 that chance dips to around 5%. This is largely due to chromosomal or genetic changes that happen naturally as eggs age. This doesn’t just make it harder to get pregnant, it also increases the risk of miscarriage, which can be as high as 40-50% by the age of 45 and raises the chance of genetic conditions like Down syndrome.
Fertility and age in men
While men produce sperm throughout their lives, it isn’t ageless. After age 40-45, sperm quality begins to gradually decline. We see a decrease in motility, which is how well they swim, and a rise in DNA fragmentation. (I have another blog covering the details of semen analysis if you want more information). What does this mean for men? Even if a pregnancy occurs, the risk of miscarriage is higher if the father is over 45. There is a small but documented increase in the risk of certain conditions for the child such as autism and schizophrenia, due to new mutations that occur in sperm as men age. The silver lining though is that unlike eggs, men produce a fresh batch of sperm roughly every 74 days, and this means lifestyle changes like diet and stopping smoking can improve sperm health in just a few months.
What about Age and Reversal Surgery?
With a female sterilisation Reversal, your chance of pregnancy after surgery is based on the following factors:
- The Age of the female partner (e.g. if you are 35, your chance of pregnancy over 12 months (had the tubes never been sterilised) is about 70-80%, at 40 years old thats about 50% and at 45 its about 1-3%).
- The Age of the Male partner and his sperm health
Providing a semen analysis is normal. The chance of pregnancy after a reversal within 12 months is your chance of pregnancy if you’d never been sterilised minus a small percentage to account for the tubal surgery. This gives you your success rate. For example, a fit and healthy 35-year-old has a success rate of around 65% while a 40-year-old has about 40% and a 45-year-old has around 1-2% over 12 months.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish any help or advice.
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