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Does age affect the success rate of IVF?


Age does not necessarily affect the success of infertility treatments, but age is a factor especially for women. IVF treatment can help women who attempt to become pregnant later and experience age related fertility problems. Age is not a major factor affecting male fertility, however age can affect the sperm count and the quality of sperm.

For women, pregnancy is possible between the time menstruation starts and the menopause finishes. The number of eggs women produce in a lifetime is finite. Women are born with a certain number of eggs that are released every month during ovulation. As women age the body responds less to ovulation inducing hormones and hormones that mature the eggs. The quality of womens eggs and the number released every month decreases from the age of 25, with most women who experience infertility discovering problems after 35.

Age can raise the risk of children being born with genetic defects. In natural conception or in pregnancy resulting from IVF treatment, the chance of genetic abnormalities increases in women over 40.

The success rate of carrying a pregnancy to term also decreases with age. Women over 35 are at greater risk of miscarriage of ectopic pregnancy. 

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