Getting Pregnant after 40 (With or Without Fertility Treatment)

Fertility declines with age, but what can women do to increase the odds of getting pregnant over the age of 40 with or without using infertility treatment? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education organization, interviewed Dr. Marcy Maquire, board certified reproductive endocrinologist with RMA of New Jersey, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Reproductive Endocrinology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Hit the Highlights
  • How does the aging process affect fertility?
  • How does age affect the quantity of eggs in a woman?
  • How does age affect the quality of eggs in a woman?
  • What do AMH, FSH and antral follicle count mean?
  • Why do infertility doctors track these numbers?
  • At what level of AMH, FSH, and antral follicle count should a women over 38 or 40 continue to try to conceive naturally without infertility treatment?
  • If you have “good numbers”, but are over 40, how long should you try to get pregnant naturally?
  • What factors influence a woman’s ability to get pregnant without fertility treatment when she is over 40?
  • If your mother had a child later in her life are you more likely to be able to get pregnant in your 40s?
  • Is fertility inheritable?
  • What environmental pollutants or exposures affect how quickly we lose of fertility?
  • Are there foods or drinks that affect how quickly we lose our fertility?
  • What supplements can prolong fertility in women?
  • Is Coenzyme Q10 effective at prolonging fertility?
  • Who should take Coenzyme Q10 for fertility?
  • Have their been any advances in reproductive medicine in the last 5 years that will make it easier for women over 40 to get pregnant using their own eggs?
  • How does age affect the effectiveness of gonadotropins?
  • What are the infertility treatment options for women over 40?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages to using fresh donor eggs vs. eggs from a frozen egg bank?

For more information from this show and a discussion of this topic, check out Dawn’s blog on the show: Finally Some Good News for Infertile Women Over 40. Please join the discussion or leave your thoughts about the show in the comments on the blog.

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Image Credit: Muus Creation

Show re-aired in 2017.