If or when to start having children is a very personal decision. The answer is different for everyone. When making your decision, it’s important to know that fertility goes down with age. Even if you aren’t sure, or you believe it’s still a few years away, there are some things you need to consider.
Fertility goes down with age for everyone.
It’s physically easier to get pregnant between 20 and 35. For many people, there are benefits to waiting to have children. For instance, people want to take advantage of work or educational opportunities. For some people, delaying having children may help them cope better with the challenges of pregnancy and parenting.
The most important thing to know and understand is the speed at which fertility drops and when it starts to happen. Even with medical advances, it’s important to know that these can’t always make up for the decline in fertility.
A person produces less testosterone as they get older, which changes the quality of their sperm. This can make it harder for the sperm to reach and enter the egg or cause health problems for the baby.
For more information on fertility and conceiving a baby, go here.
Even if you’re not planning a pregnancy right now, it is important to think about your future. A reproductive life plan will help you learn what your goals are around having children – or not having children – and ways to reach those goals.
Learn more about your birth control options and preventing STIs.
Knowing how age affects fertility may help you decide if or when to have children.
It’s physically easier to get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy between 20-35. Some people in their 20s may feel somewhat inexperienced or may be concerned about the costs of having a baby.
People becoming pregnant in their 30s or early 40s may feel more emotionally or financially ready to have a baby. However, a person’s ability to become pregnant starts to go down in their early 30s. This decline is gradual but steady. Even with medical advances, people over 35 have more trouble becoming pregnant and having a healthy baby.
Learn more about pregnancy after 35 here
Less testosterone is produced with age. Sperm quality and function may change with age, which may affect the ability to conceive a baby.
Changes can include:
There may also be health problems for the baby such as higher rates of:
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