Beating the Biological Clock

by Maureen Hanton, B.S., R.N., M.P.A.

Source: Management of the Infertile Woman by Helen A. Carcio and The Fertility Sourcebook by M. Sara Rosenthal

The biological clock: We've all heard about it, most of us wonder about it and nowdays, a few seem to fly in the face of it. It seems that every time we turn around, a new forty or fifty-something celebrity is pregnant. Their pregnancies give hope to many who are trying to have a baby or who plan to put-off having a baby until later in life. What we don't know is how many of these celebrity moms have used Advanced Reproductive Technologies (including often donor egg) to get pregnant, or how many others are currently trying and are not successful. Unfortunately, this can create a false impression about the real odds for a woman in her late thirties or forties to get pregnant.

The notion of the biological clock is perceived by some to be an outdated and sexist message. It is not fair, it is not politically correct, but it is true: the older women get, the harder it is to become pregnant. The decline in fertility is pronounced past the age of 35 and when a woman reaches 40, the drop is even more drastic. Of course there are exceptions. (Some of us have heard about a woman whose grandmother delivered at 49 or who worked with a woman who unexpectedly got pregnant in her mid-forties.) But these are very much the exceptions, not the rule.

As a nurse who works in the field of infertility, I can say without a doubt that the most upset patients I see are those who never knew the facts about their own fertility, therefore they never had the opportunity to make an informed choice. No one can tell another person when the time is right for her to have a child. As long as you have the facts, you are empowered to make the right choice for yourself.

Here are some of the things my patients wish someone had told them years ago: Putting off pregnancy until your later thirties or forties may make it more difficult to get pregnant or require using aggressive treatment to get pregnant. It may mean you won't be able to conceive using your own eggs. If you have been trying to get pregnant for one year, or 6 months if you are over 35, it is best to see a fertility specialist for evaluation (A fertility specialist is board-certified in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and the subspecialty of Reproductive Endocrinology. These highly trained physicians are qualified to treat reproductive disorders in both men and women.) The longer you wait to seek treatment, the more aggressive and costly the treatment becomes.

The good news is that most couples who seek infertility treatment will eventually have a successful pregnancy. And if you think you've missed your window of fertility entirely, donor egg may be the key to fulfilling your dream of motherhood. Donor egg is successful for most women.

You can beat the clock if you know the facts!