Celebrity bump news: Do they defy the odds or have help getting pregnant after 40?
In recent years, reports of celebrities giving birth to babies later in life seem to be the norm. Are these women defying the odds and conceiving naturally? Unfortunately, the answer is usually no. The team of reproductive endocrinologists at Nashville Fertility Center reiterates the fact that fertility decreases with age.
The average woman who hopes to get pregnant after 40 has a lot in common with Gwen Stefani, Rachel Zoe and Halle Berry. Women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have—approximately one million. By the time they hit puberty that number shrinks to 300,000.
By age 40, a woman has a less than 5% chance per cycle of getting pregnant. So how are these celebs having babies at an advanced maternal age—some well into their 40s? They’re likely conceiving with the help of an assisted reproductive technology procedure such as egg freezing, embryo freezing, or donor egg IVF.
Some facts about getting pregnant after 40
One of the many goals at our Nashville fertility center is dispelling the myths about fertility and arming women with the facts. In doing so, women can be prepared to make the best decisions regarding their fertility and remain realistic about their path to motherhood.
Many women today are opting to delay having children until their 30s and early 40s. However, a woman’s chances of getting pregnant drop significantly in her 30s, especially after age 35.
- A healthy 30-year-old has only a 20% chance of getting pregnant each month.
- The chances of getting pregnant after 40 drop to 5%.
Fortunately, advances in reproductive technology give women several fertility preserving options to help improve their chances for conceiving biological children down the road. These methods include egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) and embryo freezing (embryo cryopreservation) after IVF.
Roll out the red carpet on the path to motherhood
Although some women in their 40s are able to conceive using their own eggs, they are the exception. Women over 40 who wish to carry a child can use donor eggs and your partner’s sperm. This process fertilizes eggs in the IVF lab and transfers the embryo into your uterus.
The good news is that your uterus doesn’t age the same way that your eggs age. You should be able to carry a pregnancy well past your 40th birthday!
Know the facts about age and fertility. Contact us to learn more about egg freezing, embryo freezing, or donor egg IVF.
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