Getting Pregnant after 40

It is not a secret that in this era of women’s emancipation birthrate in developed countries has significantly decreased. Moreover, the number of pregnancies in the late period of productivity, when a woman is in her late thirties or even in early forties, has increased. However, a woman’s ”biological clock” is not directly related to her age.

Physical wilting is an individual process. Aging process of a woman’s ovaries is by no means less individual; this process is not directly related to the woman’s age. Some women lose fertility when they are rather young, other still have it in their fifties.

British obstetricians developed a special test, which allows every woman to determine whether it is a good idea to bear a child after 30. If the woman’s fertility is decreasing, the test will warn her that delaying childbirth is not a good idea.

This test is the result of the six-year study, which was conducted by biologists at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Dr. Gillian Lockwood began her research after observing that many young women repeatedly fail at conventional In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment.

While studying a large group of young women, the British scientist discovered that those who failed at IVF also had low levels of inhibin B hormone. It turns out, that level of this hormone is related to functionality of the woman’s ovaries. So, as ovaries lose their ability to produce healthy eggs – levels of this hormone drop at the same rate. Results of this simple test are based on the level of inhibin B hormone in the woman’s body.

Dr. Gillian Lockwood says that many patients who fail at IVF, a lot of them are career women, say that if they knew that their fertility was decreasing they would not have delayed childbearing for so long. The new test will help women stay on top of their fertility and motherhood.

Source of the image: Photl.