Learn more about advanced maternal age pregnancy

Our San Antonio and New Braunfels IVF doctors diagnose and treat men and women every day to help them overcome reproductive obstacles and achieve their dream of parenthood. 20% of women are postponing motherhood until age 35, so our physicians are seeing more patients who have questions about advanced maternal age pregnancy. Pregnancy is possible after age 35, but hopeful parents may need fertility treatments to bring home a baby.

Advanced maternal age pregnancy is becoming more common

More women are waiting to start families. Thanks to more-effective birth control options, women can postpone motherhood while they focus on accomplishing their educational, professional and personal goals.

Advanced maternal age refers to a woman who is at least 35 years old. Although the mid-30s is hardly considered old, a woman’s eggs age much faster than the rest of her body. A woman’s egg quality and quantity decrease with age, but our San Antonio and New Braunfels IVF doctors know that a healthy woman over 35 can still carry a pregnancy and deliver a baby.

Treatments that make pregnancy possible

Due to the age-related decline in female fertility, some women will need help from fertility treatments to achieve advanced maternal age pregnancy. Each year after the age of 35, it is more likely that a woman will need assistance from reproductive medicine.

Before beginning treatment, our San Antonio and New Braunfels IVF doctors will perform ovarian reserve testing to determine approximately how many eggs a woman has in her ovaries. With this insight into a woman’s reproductive potential, our physicians can design the best treatment plan to maximize her chance of bringing home a baby.

The two most common fertility treatments for advanced maternal age include:

• In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an advanced fertility treatment that involves taking medications for ovarian stimulation, an outpatient egg retrieval procedure, fertilization of the eggs with sperm in the IVF lab and embryo transfer.
• IVF with donor eggs is just like traditional IVF, except the eggs come from a healthy donor in her 20s. This treatment has very high success rates and is a popular way for women to achieve advanced maternal age pregnancy.

When to make an appointment

Women who are 35 or older should make an appointment with our San Antonio and New Braunfels IVF doctors if they have not been able to conceive after six months of trying.

Contact us to schedule a consultation with our San Antonio and New Braunfels IVF doctors to learn more about advanced maternal age pregnancy and the fertility treatments that make it possible.