What's the Ideal Age for IVF?
Sep 23, 2024
In vitro fertilization (or IVF) is a treatment that allows people who may be struggling to conceive another pathway to create the family of their choice. But like many treatments, it’s affected by certain variables, and one of these is age.
Gen 5 Fertility Center offers several treatments for infertility, including IVF. We want to give you the best chance to successfully conceive and build your family.
Our providers — Dr. Samuel Wood, Dr. Benito Villanueva, and Dr. Martin Bastuba — understand how important this process is, and they want to provide you with the best expectations and care. So, let’s learn more about how age can affect fertility and fertility treatments.
First, why don’t we quickly review how IVF works? The treatment involves a hormone regimen that allows you to produce as many healthy eggs as possible. Then, the eggs are retrieved and fertilized in a lab. Afterward, we implant the fertilized egg to allow you (or a surrogate) to carry the child.
The use of IVF and treatments like it is on the rise. In 2021, 2.3% of all babies born in the United States were conceived with IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies. Many people are turning to this option for several reasons, but it’s also important to have the proper expectations about how it works, including how age can play a role.
Age does affect the outcomes of IVF treatment. In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s IVF Success Calculator first asks you your age before any other questions. It’s because providers and scientists alike have seen how age affects the success rate of this treatment. But how?
For one, providers see more abnormalities in egg populations as a person ages. Women in their twenties will have fewer egg abnormalities than women in their thirties. For IVF to be successful, the more viable eggs produced, the better. So, having the chance of viable eggs diminish over time — even after the use of hormonal medicines — can harm the process.
There aren’t as many studies of male age and how it can affect IVF success rates. However, similarly to egg quality, as men age, their sperm quality diminishes. Abnormalities are more likely to occur in the sperm of aging men as well.
Another critical factor is that older women are more likely to develop health conditions that could affect fertility. Uterine fibroids and endometriosis become more likely to develop as you age, which can make it even harder to become pregnant, even with IVF.
Unfortunately, there are also specific issues associated with pregnancies in older women that can affect an IVF pregnancy. Women are more likely to miscarry as they age, with one in three pregnancies in women over 40 ending in miscarriages. Chromosomal disorders can also develop in the fetus and are more likely to do so in these pregnancies.
As you can tell from these facts, the earlier you choose to go through with IVF, the better. However, the ideal age for treatment in women is around 35 or younger. Over 44% of egg retrievals end in live births when the patient is younger than 35. These chances decrease considerably as the patient ages.
For men, it can take five times longer to conceive at 45 than during their twenties. As such, it’s ideal for men to utilize IVF at an earlier age as well.
Though age can affect the success rates of IVF, this isn’t the only factor to consider when thinking about this process. Also, everyone is different, and IVF might not be the best choice for your situation. The best course of action is to discuss the process with your provider and determine if your specific situation lends itself to IVF or another type of fertility treatment.
We’ll gladly outline a personalized treatment plan for you at our San Diego, California, office. Book an appointment online today, or call us now.