Fertility Facts

• Age is the single most important determining factor of a woman's fertility. The menopause is the menopause and your reproductive system starts ageing much earlier than that.
• As your age goes up, the likelihood of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and difficulties in labour go up too.
• Older women having babies means more complicated pregnancies, and more babies who are born underweight or premature, which puts strain on maternity services.
• Younger women may be relying too much on IVF as a fallback. The success of IVF is linked to age. The success rate of one cycle of IVF is about 10% for women between 40 and 42, and under 5% for those between 42 and 44. The truth is that most people who try IVF after 40 will fail.

Good Housekeeping, April 2014