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Female Age and Infertility

The connection between female age and infertility

Group of friends talking about the connection between female age and infertility

Age matters when it comes to fertility. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, but as women get older, the number and quality of those eggs decline until menopause. So as people delay pregnancy until later ages, advanced maternal (or egg) age is one of the most common causes of infertility. The fertility specialists at our San Antonio fertility center understand the link between female age and fertility, and they offer a variety of both simple and advanced treatment options to help women become mothers, including fertility preservation for women wanting to delay parenthood until later. Our San Antonio egg freezing center is here to help.

A predictable pattern for female age and problems with infertility

The link between female age and fertility is clear. The quantity and the quality of eggs decrease with age. This means a lower chance of pregnancy, whether trying to conceive on your own or even with fertility treatments. Statistically, spontaneous pregnancy after age 44 is relatively rare, and most women are encouraged to use their eggs prior to this time.

At our San Antonio fertility center, our team reviews patient history, bloodwork and imaging studies to design individualized treatment plans for women seeking to become pregnant. For women not planning to conceive until later, this fertility evaluation can help you understand your timeline and what to do to protect your chances of pregnancy in the future.

Egg freezing to protect fertility

One approach to safeguarding fertility is egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation. This treatment essentially stops the clock for female age and fertility, allowing women to freeze eggs from their current age to use at a later age, at a time that’s right for them.

During the process at our San Antonio egg freezing center, mature oocytes, or eggs, are removed from the body and frozen. This procedure preserves the DNA quality inside the egg and protects it from the aging process that would occur if the eggs stayed inside the ovary. When a woman is ready to start a family, those eggs can be thawed and exposed to sperm, and the resulting embryo can be transferred to her uterus. Other embryos can be cryopreserved for use for other pregnancy attempts down the road.

The amazing thing about egg freezing is that the chances of pregnancy are determined by the age of the egg when it was frozen, NOT when it was used. This means a 40-year-old woman using eggs she froze when she was 30 years old will have the chances of pregnancy, miscarriage and genetic conditions (such Down syndrome) of a 30-year-old, not a 40-year-old. As a result, deciding to freeze eggs now can not only reduce a woman’s stress levels associated with aging and the ability to have a baby, but it can also reduce the risk of chromosomal problems related to advanced maternal age.

Learn more about the link between female age and fertility

To find out more about female age and fertility, including egg freezing and other treatments, please contact us to schedule a consultation with our San Antonio egg freezing center.