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Health & Fitness

Thirty Plus Plus and Fertility

Fact:  If you choose to wait ‘til later in life to start a family, the chance of getting pregnant is slimmer than when you were in your twenties. But for many women, there’s a belief that this isn’t true. After all, look at Kellie Preston and Halle Berry?

Some women believe that if you are active and have a healthy life style, then you can still get pregnant naturally without problems. To back up these ideas, you will hear stories of how their mothers/ grandmothers/ aunts/ sisters got pregnant at age 45. We do and say these things because women are by nature, relational. Nurturing if you will. We want our thirty five (plus plus) year old friends to not give up, to know there is hope.

It seems so downright unfair that pregnancy later in life is the exception rather than the norm. Too boot, the messages women get from society are confusing at the best of times. On one hand, women have been encouraged to seek out further education, higher paying jobs and forget the small print.  And yet on the other hand, we’re told about the ticking of our “biological clock” and a mixture of “you better hurry up” or “why did you wait so long?”

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Adding to the confusion is the misconception that IVF is going to be the save all at the end of the day.  That at least if you do wait too long, IVF will get you get pregnant. And I hate to switch the light on here but in reality, this is simply not true. The chance of successfully having a baby via IVF also drops with age —  for one cycle of IVF treatment,  the chance of success  drops from 41 percent at age 35, to 4 percent after age 42. Yikes! It’s all very harsh.

So what to do if you find yourself in the position of being 35 plus and wanting to have a baby? Do you give up hope? Keep trying? Run to the nearest IVF clinic? What?!

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The answer is complicated, but firstly I would highly recommend getting a consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist. These doctors specialize in fertility. Their job is to help older women get pregnant and while the consultation may cost around $200, it’s worth every penny. Also, start educating yourself with all the possible options. Fertility Authority, The American Fertility Association as well as RESOLVE are the best places to start for accurate information. Getting on the right path is key and will save you the extra heartache.

Finally, know that there are many ways to have a baby. Even if IVF fails, it doesn't mean that there won’t be a baby or children in your life, it just means that the natural path or the IVF route wasn't the one for you.

 Ask anyone who has adopted a child how they feel. Ask an adopted child who they know their family to be. You might discover a new path that you never considered before.

 Best of luck

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