Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is present in a variety of forms but has recently been recognized as playing a critical role in reproduction.  It is essential in the production of sex hormones in the body.  It is thought that a deficiency of Vitamin D may lead among other things to ovulation disorders.

It has been demonstrated that Vitamin D deficient rats had a 75% reduced fertility and a 50% smaller litter size that was corrected with Vitamin D treatment.  In addition, sperm motility in males was reduced in the presence of a Vitamin D deficiency.

A recent study at the Yale University School of Medicine revealed that only 7% of 67 infertile women studied had normal Vitamin D levels and not a single woman with an ovulatory disorder had normal levels.  Nearly 40% of women with ovulatory dysfunction had a clinical deficiency of Vitamin D.

At the American Society of Reproductive Medicine conference this year, a study presented by Dr. Briana Rudick from USC showed that a deficiency of Vitamin D can also have a detrimental effect on pregnancy rates after IVF, possibly through an effect on the[O1] endometrial lining of the uterus.   In her study only 42% of the infertile women going through IVF had normal Vitamin D levels.  Vitamin D levels did not impact the number of ampules of gonadotropin utilized nor the number of eggs stimulated, embryos created nor embro quality.  However, Vitamin D levels did significantly effect pregnancy rates even when controlled for number of embryos transferred and embryo quality.  In this study the pregnancy rate dropped from 51% in Caucasian women undergoing IVF who had normal Vitamin D levels to 44% in those with insufficient levels and 19% in those that were deficient.

Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with poor pregnancy outcomes including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes

Vitamin D can be obtained for free by sitting out in the sun and getting sun exposure on the arms and legs for 15-20 minutes per day during peak sunlight hours.  The sunlight helps the skin to create Vitamin D3 that is then transformed into the active form of Vitamin D by the kidneys and liver.   An oral supplement is available also in the form of Vitamin D3, with a minimum recommended amount of 1000 IU a day for women planning on becoming pregnant.  For those with clinical insufficiencies a higher dose may be administered by injection.

We are approaching a time that freezing eggs will be a standard option for an IVF program much like Embryo freezing is today.  Despite the fact that hundreds of babies have been born apparently without an increase in defects or abnormalities, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has proclaimed that Egg freezing is still considered experimental.

This is not just a scientific decision but is a philosophical and political one as well.  In the 1980’s, IVF was being performed likewise on an experimental basis.  Insurance companies denied that it had become standard of care until recently.  In fact, there are insurance providers who in an effort to deny claims continue to call IVF experimental despite the million babies already born without significant increases in abnormalities or defects noted.  However, the ASRM is afraid to push the envelope and take a risk that may make them appear to be promoting a procedure that could theoretically be associated with increased problems with the children created after egg freezing.

But why should we be interested in egg freezing anyway when we have IVF that is successful and known to be relatively safe after 33 years of experience?  The reasons are multiple.  A young woman who develops cancer and will have radiation therapy or chemotherapy that may affect her eggs or have her ovaries removed would with egg freezing have an option to preserve her fertility and still have her cancer treated.  In the past, the loss of a woman’s future ability to bear children was sometimes more emotionally depressing for her than the cancer itself.  The prospect of offering hope to such affected women is spreading throughout the community in part through the efforts of the Lance Armstrong Fund supported group, Fertile Hope.  They are attempting to educate not just affected individuals but oncologists and other physicians who come into contact with patients who may be able to take advantage of new IVF technologies to preserve their fertility while undergoing cancer treatment.

Another great potential use for frozen eggs is in the donor egg program.  Currently, our egg donors go through fresh IVF cycles coordinated in time with the recipients so that the eggs are fertilized fresh when they are retrieved.  This is highly successful in achieving pregnancies in approximately 80% of donations.  However, cycles can be delayed in trying to synchronize patients.   If programs can achieve similar success rates using frozen eggs it will allow recipient patients to choose donor eggs much like they select donor sperm today.

Yet, another benefit of the ability to bank frozen eggs is for women who either because of their career or lack of finding a suitable partner need to put off their childbearing until a time when they would otherwise put their future fertility at significant risk.  This is a more controversial use of this technology but a practical concern for countless women today for whom conceiving before age 35 is unrealistic.

Needless to say, egg freezing will be a great benefit for many when it becomes a safe acceptable IVF standard.  That time for consideration by patients is rapidly approaching and is something that the public needs to be made aware of.

Last week a patient presented to my office with a question that made me feel like I was responding to a Dear Abbey letter requesting help to make some crucial life decisions that were related to her reproductive health.  As I pondered her query that I had heard so many times before I wondered how terribly nerve racking it must feel like for this woman.

Dear Fertility Doc,

“I am 39 years old, single and I enjoy my career.  However, I always dreamed I would have children.  Unfortunately, I have not yet met a man that I would feel comfortable with to marry and with whom to have a baby.  What should I do?”

Signed,

At Reproductive Crossroads

The issues that this woman brings up are universal in my practice.  She basically has to weigh her desire to have children now rather than delay, using her own eggs or potentially with an egg donor or to adopt.   She needs to consider the ramifications of taking time off from her career as well as creating a child with donor sperm.  She expressed concern to me that if she were to meet Mister Right how will he respond to this child?  Are there any tests that I can perform that can help this woman make a decision?

First of all, it is imperative in cases like this to do a full fertility screen so that we understand from a fertility perspective how much time she has left and how urgent this patient needs to make a decision.  To assess her fertility I do a Day 3 serum Estradiol and FSH, an AntiMullerian Hormone and a sonographic antral follicle count.  The FSH is regulated by negative feedback from serum Estradiol and inhibin both of which are produced by the granulosa cells of the ovarian follicles.  With diminishing ovarian activity there are fewer follicles, less estradiol and inhibin so with less feedback, the FSH level is high.  Occasionally, in patients with low ovarian activity, often called reserve, a patient may have an ovarian cyst that produces estradiol.  This will lower the FSH level to otherwise normal activity levels even when there is minimal ovarian activity and inhibin.  One would misinterpret the low normal FSH in the presence of higher estradiol which is why this must be measured concurrent with FSH.

AntiMullerian Hormone is also produced by the granulosa cells and low levels therefore indicate depleted ovaries.  Likewise, few antral follicles seen on ultrasound typically performed during the early follicular phase of the cycle will indicate low ovarian reserve.

Once we know a patient’s relative fertility through this screen we need to decide whether she is prepared to delay her career for pregnancy and motherhood or should she do IVF and freeze her embryos thereby freezing her fertility potential at the current state.

Since she is single without a participating partner we would be using the sperm from an anonymous donor.  The specimens are obtained from sperm banks that are certified by New York State by virtue of their screening and testing for infectious and hereditary diseases.  Patients may review what is available from the sperm banks.  They can review on the internet the donor’s demographic information, physical attributes, educational and occupational histories, etc for the offered specimens.

If a woman does not have any infertility issues I would attempt donor insemination.  However, due to her advanced age, I would progress to more aggressive therapies if we were not successful after a few cycles.

A common concern for women in this circumstance is that they may meet their soul mate in the future and he may not be comfortable with a child produced with someone else’s sperm.  This is an issue that is very individual and I can only offer to support the patients as they decide what is best for them.

As she prolongs the decision her fertility is diminishing, and thereby risks not being able to have a child using her own eggs.  If conceiving with one’s own eggs is crucial then she must weigh the downside of conceiving a child from an anonymous donor and if she does so, the potential problems associated with finding a man in the future who she may want to have a family with.

It is enormously stressful making these decisions at these reproductive crossroads.

I discuss these issues with my patients and help them arrive at the decision that is right for them.

My son is starting his second year residency in obstetrics and gynecology. He, like I was 30 years ago, is turned on by reproductive medicine and enjoys performing gynecologic surgery. When I decided then to specialize in reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) I was looking forward to being on the frontier of fertility medicine. The details of Reproductive physiology were being unraveled in real time and IVF had just reported its first successful pregnancies. In those days, microsurgery of the fallopian tubes was commonly performed by REIs as well as endometriosis and fibroid surgery.

During my fellowship, surgery was a huge part of my training. I travelled to Nashville to train with one of the world’s experts in laser laparoscopy. I practiced my tubal microsurgery skills weekly on anesthetized rats in a plastic surgical lab. I assisted on reproductive surgery several cases every week throughout my fellowship.

Myself and other fellows performed research on basic reproductive physiology questions that had yet to be worked out. Personally, my interest was polycystic ovarian disease and its relationship to weight gain. I studied male hormone production in the ovary and the adrenal gland before and after significant weight loss. I discovered that there was an inverse relationship between weight loss and male hormone production and that this was mediated through insulin. These were exciting times. If only we had metformin back then, I would have proven that in addition to weight loss, we could decrease insulin levels and therefore male hormone levels with metformin.

Today, discoveries in reproductive physiology are much more esoteric than it was when I was a fellow. Reproductive surgery, in particular tubal microsurgery and laser laparoscopy for endometriosis and adhesions is usually replaced with in vitro fertilization (IVF) which has become so much more successful, less invasive and therefore a preferable option. Most causes of infertility, if they are not successfully treated with ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination (IUI) can be overcome with IVF.

In the 1980’s when I was a fellow, IVF was grossly inefficient and we had to transfer multiple embryos to achieve a pregnancy. Consequently, triplets and quadruplets were not rare occurrences. In many programs, they constituted over 10% of all pregnancies. Today, we can often transfer one embryo at a time minimizing the risk of multiple pregnancies. We can freeze excess embryos so many patients need go through only one stimulation and retrieval and still have multiple transfers providing them with an excellent chance of conceiving a baby from their efforts.

Today, we get excited about advances in preembryo genetic screening and diagnosis and contemplate the current and future potential of eliminating hereditary medical disorders. This involves highly trained laboratory personnel who perform the latest technologic advances. In 2010, the REI, in general is removed from a hands on involvement with the frontiers of Reproductive Medicine and instead works like a film producer gathering his team including these lab personnel, nurses, etc and directing them as to how to approach his patients’ fertility problems. It used to be that he used the microscope and laser laparoscope to perform the tubal and endometriosis surgery. The IVF retrieval and transfer were new procedures that were still being perfected.

Today, they are the routine cases performed daily by the REI.

My son looks at the REI of today as a doctor who starts his day with 1-2 hours of ultrasound that is part of the daily ovulation monitoring for IUI and IVF. Many REIs no longer perform more surgery than hysteroscopy and occasional laparoscopy or myomectomy in addition to their retrievals. These are all considered routine procedures now. The current frontier in infertility is limited pretty much to the laboratory. Though many of us consider ourselves expert in stimulations, retrievals and transfers and while we know we make a significant difference in our patients’ outcomes our work does not appear or feel as glamorous as it once did. Perhaps, he will decide, as I did, that the pleasure in helping women build their families is sufficient reward. Or perhaps, this Nintendo generation, will seek a more apparently exciting lifestyle. How about that Robotic surgery?

Pre-embryo genetic screening (PGS) was developed to help weed out embryos containing inherited metabolic disorders and genetic abnormalities prior to implantation. It was thought that PGS could be used to minimize the risk of miscarriage and perhaps even increase live birth rates in older women IVF undergoing .

We have thus far been disappointed in our results obtained using the FISH technique, the procedure performed for PGS for the past decade and a half. But an alternative new technology that was recently developed makes me very excited about PGS once again: Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH).

ACGH is a technique actually applied to detect deficiencies and excesses of genetic material in the chromosomes. DNA from a test sample and a normal reference sample are labeled using colored fluorophores that hybridize to several thousand probes. These probes are created from most of the known genes of the genome and placed on a glass slide.

The differential color of the test compared to the normal sample DNA reflects the amount of DNA in the test specimen. It can pick up monosomies, trisomies or significant deletions on an embryo’s chromosomes.

The first baby born from this procedure was in September 2009 to a 41-year old woman. When aCGH is performed on a Blastocyst biopsy, it is effective in screening out mosaicism (mixed cell lines in the same organism). ACGH is 20 percent more sensitive than the best FISH assays with an error rate of two to four percent. Fifty percent of the embryos tested were normal with pregnancy rates exceeding Blast transfers without aCGH screening.

So, who could benefit from using this new technology?

1. Patients with repeat miscarriages can eliminate up to 90 percent of their miscarriages.

2. Older patients who naturally have a higher percentage of genetically abnormal embryos may now screen for and only transfer their normal embryos.

3. Patients who want to maximize their success with a single embryo transfer.

4. Patients who have experienced repeat implantation failure can be screened for genetically abnormal embryos.

This technology is available for about the same cost as the FISH procedure yet, since it is performed on a Blastocyst, it is safer with less effect on the integrity of the embryo and without significant risk of wrongly identifying abnormal embryos. A concern with FISH is that embryos identified as abnormal can actually result in a normal fetus. This risk is practically eliminated with aCGH and is another reason making it more successful.

I expect PGS will now become a commonly used addition to standard IVF to promote more successful single embryo transfer, improve success in older patients, eliminate miscarriages and treat patients with repeat implantation failure.

We are approaching a new era in IVF. Brace yourselves for a thrilling ride into IVF’s future.

Fertility is dependent upon so many things!

We must have healthy gametes (eggs and sperm) capable of fertilizing and implanting in a uterus with a normal endometrial lining unimpeded by any uterine or endometrial pathology. The sperm need be in sufficient number and capable of swimming up through a cervix which is not inflamed and provides a mucous medium that promotes sperm motility. The eggs need to ovulate and be picked up by normal healthy fimbriated ends (finger like projections) of the fallopian tubes. The tubes need to be covered with normal micro hairs called cilia that help transport the egg one third of the way down the tube where one of the sperm will fertilize it.

The united egg and sperm (the “conceptus”) then needs to undergo cell division, growth and development as it traverses the tube and makes its way to the uterine cavity by the embryo’s fifth day of life at which point it is a blastocyst. The blastocyst hatches out of its shell (“zona pellucidum”) and implants into the endometrial lining requiring adequate blood flow.

And you wonder why getting pregnant is so hard?

All too often patients, in some groups as many as 30% of women, are told that they have fibroids that may be contributing to their infertility. Fibroids or leiomyomata are non malignant smooth muscle tumors of the uterus. They can vary in number, size and location in the uterus including; the outside facing the pelvic cavity (subserosal), the inside facing the uterine cavity (submucosal) and in between inside the uterine wall (intramural). Fortunately, most fibroids have minimal or no effect on fertility and may be ignored.

The subserosal myoma will rarely cause fertility issues. If it were distorting the tubo- ovarian anatomy so that eggs could not get picked up by the fimbria then it can cause infertility. Otherwise, the subserosal fibroid does not cause problems conceiving.

Occasionally, an intramural myoma may obstruct adequate blood flow to the endometrial lining. The likelihood of this being significant increases with the number and size of the fibroids. The more space occupied by the fibroids, the greater the likelihood of intruding on blood vessels traveling to the endometrium. Diminished blood flow to the uterine lining can prevent implantation or increase the risk of miscarriage. Surgery may be recommended when it is feared that the number and size of fibroids is great enough to have such an impact.
However, it is the submucosal myoma, inside the uterine cavity, that can irritate the endometrium and have the greatest effect on the implanting embryo.

To determine if your fertility is being hindered by these growths you may have a hydrosonogram. A hydrosonogram is a procedure where your doctor or a radiologist injects water through your cervix while performing a transvaginal ultrasound of your uterus. On the ultrasound, the water shows up as black against a white endometrial border. A defect in the smooth edges of the uterine cavity caused by an endometrial polyp or fibroid may be easily seen.

Submucosal as well as intramural myomata can also cause abnormal vaginal bleeding and occasionally cramping. Intramural myomata will usually cause heavy but regular menses that can create fairly severe anemias. Submucosal myomata can cause bleeding throughout the cycle.

Though these submucosal fibroids are almost always benign they need to be removed to allow implantation. A submucosal myoma may be removed by hysteroscopy through cutting, chopping or vaporizing the tissue. A hysteroscopy is performed vaginally, while a patient is asleep under anesthesia. A scope is placed through the cervix into the uterus in order to look inside the uterine cavity. This procedure can be performed as an outpatient in an ambulatory or office based surgery unit. The risk of bleeding, infection or injury to the uterus or pelvic organs is small.

Resection of the submucosal myoma can be difficult especially when the fibroid is large and can sometimes take longer than is safe to be performed in a single procedure. It is not uncommon that when the fibroid is large, it will take multiple procedures in order to remove the fibroid in its entirety. It will be necessary to repeat the hydrosonogram after the fibroid resection to make sure the cavity is satisfactory for implantation.

The good news is, when no other causes of infertility are found, removal of a submucosal fibroid is often successful in allowing conception to occur naturally or at least with assisted reproduction.

Although traditional full stimulation in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures produce better pregnancy rates, minimal stimulation IVF (MS-IVF) induces ovarian follicle and egg development with less hormonal stimulation. As a result, patients going through minimal stimulation IVF incur less expense (thousands of dollars less) from meds in addition to the savings from less required monitoring and labwork. Currently, the fee for MS-IVF/MicroIVF is $3900.

Another benefit to MS-IVF is that a woman is not subjected to the high dose of gonadotropin drug stimulation eliminating the risk of hyperstimulation syndrome. It is also a lower risk to developing a multiple pregnancy and therefore results in safer pregnancies more likely to result in a live, healthy baby.

Although we get our highest pregnancy rates in young patients with lots of follicles like those with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), MS- IVF may be especially cost effective for older patients who do not respond to gonadotropin stimulation with very many follicles and eggs. We sometimes get as many eggs from a MS-IVF stimulation as a full stimulation in this group.

For patients who do not have coverage for intrauterine insemination (IUI), MS-IVF is a more cost effective, more successful, lower cost alternative and should therefore be considered as a first line of therapy before IUI especially when compared to gonadotropin IUI treatment.

If MS-IVF has all these advantages then why don’t all IVF programs offer it? The reason may be related to the fact that MS-IVF cases are counted the same as any IVF case in statistical reporting of pregnancy rates. Since success with a full stimulation is still on the average about twice that of MS-IVF, performing MS-IVFs will lower a program’s reported success rate. This is a difficult obstacle to overcome as many patients will comparison shop prior to selecting an IVF program.

For us, it is the welfare of our patients that is our concern. It is our goal to deliver the safest and most cost effective treatment to our patients that will offer our patients their best chance of building their family. We wish to make IVF accessible and safe to all those in need.

Sometimes my patients who have difficulty conceiving their second child feel like second class citizens in the infertility world.  Unlike their infertile peers without a child they perceive that friends, family and even their doctor’s offices do not have the same sympathy and concern for them as they observe others without a child receive.  I have had patients express guilt and anger in addition to the routine sadness often associated with the inability to conceive.

Those of you with secondary infertility need to know that you are not alone in feeling this way.  My patients all express this alienation which exacerbates the depressing effects of infertility universally experienced among those affected.  You have as much a right to fertility care as anyone else as well as the respect and care.

There are some unique characteristics to patients with secondary infertility that are worth discussion.  Those of you who have had a caesarian section, ectopic pregnancy or abdominal surgery are more likely to have a tubal factor causing your infertility.  Scar tissue can form that can obstruct, or displace a fallopian tube making it more difficult for the tube to pick up an ovulating egg or the fertilized egg to make it to the uterus.

Borderline sperm counts and endometriosis typically make it more difficult to conceive so that it is not unusual that it took longer than expected to conceive the first time and now you are not experiencing any success at all.

We perform a semen analysis and hysterosalpingogram and consider the potential benefit of laparoscopic investigation.  Alternatively, if the semen analysis is not too bad and the HSG is normal, patients may benefit from insemination with hormonal stimulation.  Otherwise, in vitro fertilization either with minimal or full stimulation will offer significantly superior success rates.

Facing secondary infertility may be as difficult emotionally as infertility for those without prior pregnancies.  However, treatment options are available that are highly successful in delivering you the family of your dreams.

A new article appearing in Medical News Today, “Obese Women Undergoing Infertility Treatment Advised Not To Attempt Rapid Weight Loss”, suggests that weight loss just prior to conception may have adverse effects on the pregnancy, either by disrupting normal physiology or by releasing environmental pollutants stored in the fat. The article points out what is obvious to many who share the lifelong struggle to maintain a reasonable Body Mass Index (BMI): Weight loss is difficult to achieve. Few people adhere to lifestyle intervention and diets which may have no benefit in improving pregnancy in subfertile obese women.

The bias in the field is so strong that when I submitted a research paper demonstrating equivalent IVF pregnancy rates for women with excessive BMIs greater than 35 to the ASRM for presentation, it was rejected based on the notion that there was clear evidence to the contrary. Here’s the point I was trying to prove: IVF care must be customized to optimize the potential for this group.

Women with high BMI need a higher dose of medication. Those with PCOS benefit from treatment with Metformin. Their ultrasounds and retrievals need be performed by the most experienced personnel. Often their follicles will be larger than in women of lower weight. Strategies to retrieve follicles in high BMI women include using a suture in the cervix to manipulate the uterus and an abdominal hand to push the ovaries into view. Most importantly, a two-stage embryo transfer with the cervical suture can insure in utero placement of the transfer catheter and embryos without contamination caused by inadvertent touching of the catheter to the vaginal wall before insertion through the cervical canal. Visualization of the cervix is facilitated by pulling on the cervical suture, straightening the canal and allowing for easier passage of the catheter. The technique calls for placement of one catheter into the cervix through which a separate catheter, loaded with the patient’s embryo, is inserted.

Using this strategy, IVF with high BMI patients is extremely successful. With regard to the health of the high BMI woman and her fetus, it’s critical to counsel patients just as it is when dealing with women who live with diabetes or any other chronic situation that adds risk.

We refuse to share in the prejudice that is nearly universal in this field. It’s horrible and hypocritical to refuse these patients treatment. Clearly, with close attention to the needs of this population, their success is like any others.

Women who have time and motivation to lose significant weight prior to fertility therapy are encouraged to do so and I try to support their efforts. Unfortunately, many have tried and are unable to significantly reduce prior to conception.

What right do we have to deny these women the right to build their families?

It can be hard to deal with obesity and even more so when combined with infertility. If you are feeling sad or depressed, it may help to talk to a counselor or to others who have the condition. I advise you to ask your doctor about support groups and for treatment that can help you including fertility treatment.

Remember, though this condition can be annoying, aggravating and even depressing, seek an REI who is interested in supporting you and helping you build your family and reject those who simply tell you to return after you have lost sufficient weight.

What Do You Know About Your Biological Clock?

Women have a biological clock. Everyone knows that. The problem is that a lot of the information people think they know about their fertility and reproduction is not true. The blurring of fact, opinion, myth and misunderstanding makes for a treacherous misinformation landscape. The knowledge gap has claimed millions of victims, people who learned about their limited reproductive lifespan too late to help them have the genetically linked offspring they always assumed would be theirs. Armed with essential and accurate information, you don’t have to join their ranks.

What is still not understood across the board is the time line of the biological clock. Most women don’t have a clue about their own.

So, we’re asking the question: What do you know about your fertility? Over the next three days we’ll be learning a lot more about it.

But, right now, if you’re like most people, the answer is not as much as you might believe. Just to give you a little perspective, a spate of recent surveys reveals that the overwhelming majority of U.S. women:

• The trajectory of reproductive capabilities peaks in a woman’s early-to-mid-20s and begins to decline, typically, around 27.
  However wonderfully youthful and fit a 42-year-old might be, her eggs are operating on an independent and fixed timeline.
  The stark truth is women at that age are more likely than not to require medical intervention.
  Sleep, diet, exercise and environment can all impact your fertility.

• Don’t understand the biological clock.

• Mistake overall good health as an indicator of fertility.

• Believe they can get pregnant easily until their 40s.

• Don’t know that lifestyle factors can have a profound effect on the ability to have a child.

This basic information can make a critical difference in the life of every person who dreams of having a child. If you know about your body’s reproductive lifecycle, you can take steps to protect and preserve your fertility and have the children you want – if and when you choose.

Statistics and general truths aside, every woman is unique. Given just how complicated it is to make a baby in the first place, understanding your own body’s reproductive capability and the changes it might undergo from year to year is an invaluable planning tool.

Marking Time: The Biological Clock and You

Each woman’s oocytes (eggs) supply is finite. That means the body doesn’t produce new ones. So the 7 million or so eggs each female is born with is all she’s going to have. By the time the average girl hits puberty, only about 250,000-300,000 oocytes remain in her ovaries. With each menstrual cycle one egg is released, and an additional thousand eggs each month are lost through a process called artresia, the natural breakdown of the eggs by the body. After ovulating an average of 400 times through her life, typically at around 50 years of age, the store of oocytes is tapped out. That’s menopause.

Then there’s the matter of oocyte aging. Eggs age along with the rest of the body. The older oocytes are more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities making them unlikely to become viable embryos. It’s important to note that a fertilized egg with abnormal chromosomes is the single most common cause of miscarriage. As a general rule, women in their 20s have about a 20% chance of having a miscarriage each time they become pregnant, a woman in her 30’s has a 30% chance, and a woman in her 40s about a 40% risk of miscarriage.

The bottom line is the older we get, the less likely we are to conceive and have a successful pregnancy. Fertility starts to decline when a woman is in her 20’s but when she hits 35, it take a sharp downturn. At 40, fertility falls off even more dramatically.

Of course, some women in their late 30s and a few in their 40s conceive effortlessly, and carry and deliver healthy babies. But the likelihood of that happening without medical intervention becomes more remote with each passing year.

For women under 30, the estimated chance of becoming pregnant in any one cycle is between 20% and 30%. When women turn 40, that probability plummets to approximately 5%. Even more significant is that when a woman experiences difficulty conceiving in her 40’s it is a far greater challenge to achieve a live birth using her own eggs even with the best medical technologies.

Learn More About Your Fertility

So, the good news is, there are some steps you can take to preserve your fertility and stay on top of your biological clock.

We’ll be back with:
Tomorrow: Fertility Screening for Your Reproductive Life