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I conceived at age 41.5, on my third month of trying. I had seen a reproductive endocrinologist due to circumstances besides my age, and based on my test results and exam, he felt I shouldn't have much of a problem conceiving. Thankfully he was right.
I would recommend getting a full medical evaluation sooner rather than later - don't waste time trying for six months to see what happens. If there are things that can be addressed up front to increase your odds, you want to do that ASAP, while those odds remain as high as they can be. Not to be harsh, but the numbers only continue to go down from here - not that it's impossible and statistics are population based and don't necessarily reflect your personal situation.
I conceived at age 41.5, on my third month of trying. I had seen a reproductive endocrinologist due to circumstances besides my age, and based on my test results and exam, he felt I shouldn't have much of a problem conceiving. Thankfully he was right.
I would recommend getting a full medical evaluation sooner rather than later - don't waste time trying for six months to see what happens. If there are things that can be addressed up front to increase your odds, you want to do that ASAP, while those odds remain as high as they can be. Not to be harsh, but the numbers only continue to go down from here - not that it's impossible and statistics are population based and don't necessarily reflect your personal situation.
Appointment is already scheduled. That's excellent advice though. Thank you for responding!
If so, would you mind sharing your experiences with that? DH and I just started going down that road. (We know our odds aren't great.)
Really can't tell you much, other than we decided to try when my wife was 44 and succeeded in the first month, with her giving birth at age 45 (via C-section) to a perfectly healthy child. Other than my wife taking folic acid supplements daily, we did nothing special (no fertility procedures, temperature taking or anything else).
Obviously, that's not everyone else's experience, but just wanted to point out that it *can* happen, and each individual situation is...well, an individual situation. I'm younger than my wife, which probably helped a little, and her family history included "older" pregnancies from a time before any fertility treatments, although I don't know if there is much of a genetic link or not. emm74's advice is excellent.
My wife also had some additional screenings, etc. while pregnant, but I think that's standard now for "advanced maternal age", which apparently is anything 35 and over.
Really can't tell you much, other than we decided to try when my wife was 44 and succeeded in the first month, with her giving birth at age 45 (via C-section) to a perfectly healthy child. Other than my wife taking folic acid supplements daily, we did nothing special (no fertility procedures, temperature taking or anything else).
Obviously, that's not everyone else's experience, but just wanted to point out that it *can* happen, and each individual situation is...well, an individual situation. I'm younger than my wife, which probably helped a little, and her family history included "older" pregnancies from a time before any fertility treatments, although I don't know if there is much of a genetic link or not. emm74's advice is excellent.
My wife also had some additional screenings, etc. while pregnant, but I think that's standard now for "advanced maternal age", which apparently is anything 35 and over.
I've never had children, though I've lost a couple of pregnancies early on. There's no history of women having children in my family after age 35, but I don't think any of them tried to.
My husband is older than I am, unfortunately, so that also complicates things.
We haven't been trying for long and we're not using any method other than counting days to figure out when I'd be most fertile. I'm most likely still ovulating since I get the same mid-cycle pain that I have since my 20s. That's a good sign, I guess.
If so, would you mind sharing your experiences with that? DH and I just started going down that road. (We know our odds aren't great.)
Do you have fertility issues going in that you're aware of?
I wouldn't necessarily make assumptions if you have no indications to the contrary. I didn't even get married until I was 37, and conceived quickly once we started, and have had successful pregnancies twice (got pregnant with my first a month before I turned 38 and my second four months before I turned 40) with no issues or interventions necessary. I'm forty, and our second is due in a few weeks. My husband is five years older than I am. By contrast, all of my siblings had children much younger and required fertility treatments even in late twenties/early thirties.
If you have had reproductive/menstrual issues that have been ongoing, that may be cause for concern, but otherwise, it isn't necessarily as dire as many will tell you.
Honestly, though, I had two significant medical issues that could have seriously affected being able to conceive and/or carry a fetus to term going in, and had had one all my life, and one for several years, and still had no issues...one being a bicornuate uterus, which is a congenital defect, and the other being endometrial polyps, which were discovered and surgically removed two months before we started trying for kids. There's really no telling until you try.
Do you have fertility issues going in that you're aware of?
I wouldn't necessarily make assumptions if you have no indications to the contrary. I didn't even get married until I was 37, and conceived quickly once we started, and have had successful pregnancies twice (got pregnant with my first a month before I turned 38 and my second four months before I turned 40) with no issues or interventions necessary. I'm forty, and our second is due in a few weeks. My husband is five years older than I am. By contrast, all of my siblings had children much younger and required fertility treatments even in late twenties/early thirties.
If you have had reproductive/menstrual issues that have been ongoing, that may be cause for concern, but otherwise, it isn't necessarily as dire as many will tell you.
Honestly, though, I had two significant medical issues that could have seriously affected being able to conceive and/or carry a fetus to term going in, and had had one all my life, and one for several years, and still had no issues...one being a bicornuate uterus, which is a congenital defect, and the other being endometrial polyps, which were discovered and surgically removed two months before we started trying for kids. There's really no telling until you try.
I haven't ever had an abnormal pap smear or been diagnosed with any reproductive issues at all, no STDs, no fibroids, nothing.
I don't have any menstrual issues either aside from the usual cramping and bloating. PMS has never been that terrible for me and I can carry on normal activities throughout. My periods are regular.
TabulaRasa's advice is spot on. I am a little younger, having conceived my first child a month before my 36th birthday after only 3 cycles of tracking my ovulation. The baby (due in August) is healthy, no signs of any of the genetic problems those of us of "advanced maternal age" are bombarded with statistics about.
Yes, there are slightly higher risks and slightly higher chances of fertility problems. It's important to be aware of that, but it's also important not to let negative feelings about your chances overwhelm you. I used an app for ovulation tracking that included discussion forums, and the vast majority of people on those forums were sharing their difficulties, not their successes. I got bogged down in thinking I'd never get pregnant or carry to term or have a healthy baby, and that certainly wasn't a healthy attitude for me to have.
Hope that's helpful. It sounds like you are in good shape to conceive naturally. I wish you the best of luck!
I haven't ever had an abnormal pap smear or been diagnosed with any reproductive issues at all, no STDs, no fibroids, nothing.
I don't have any menstrual issues either aside from the usual cramping and bloating. PMS has never been that terrible for me and I can carry on normal activities throughout. My periods are regular.
Thanks...your post gives me hope.
I was really anxious, and my husband and I actually did assume we'd have a long road ahead of us conceiving. I had known since my early thirties about my lifelong uterine anomaly, though I didn't know yet about the endometrial polyps, and I went into my marriage knowing that conceiving might be a challenge.
My husband and I, when we were dating, actually talked about it. When we realized that we were serious about one another and a future, we talked family wants. Being 35 and 40 when we met, neither of assumed bio kids would be a given, but both of us very much wanted to be parents. We talked leading up to when we decided to get married, and agreed that if it wasn't biologically in the cards, we would purse fostering and adoption. We were both fine with that. Still are.
And after all that, conception proved to be a nonissue. You really just don't know how things will play out.
One very nice thing about being 35-plus and pregnant is that insurance companies will consider you "of advanced maternal age," and most are more likely to pay for things like genetic counseling and NIPT -
prenatal cell-free DNA testing, where blood samples taken from the mother will give a fairly solidly predictive (though not diagnostic) profile of the risk for a panel of genetic disorders.
In both my pregnancies, I was comforted by being able to have NIPT done and get a picture of the likelihood of a number of the most serious fetal chromosomal disorders. Younger mothers will typically have to pay out of pocket for the same testing. My youngest sibling did not have it, due to cost, and it would have been very helpful in preparing for dealing with a medical condition they were unaware of until delivery, as it turned out. I feel fortunate that that testing was a part of my routine prenatal care due to age.
I just turned 40 three months ago and found out I was pregnant today. We were not trying at all. I am going to the doctor asap.
We had and lost a child to cancer years ago and I was told that due to fibroids and an ectopic pregnancy that that child was a miracle. So we have not been "careful" nor have we tried to conceive. Honestly, neither of us was even thinking it was possible.
Nature is a funny thing.
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Thank you for responding!
