You have no doubt heard about a woman’s ticking biological clock. It is often thrown around in jest, however, is very real indeed. A woman’s fertility does start to decline from her 30s onwards. Today, it is increasingly popular to see more woman aged in their 40s conceiving happy and healthy children. They have for whatever reason, delayed conceiving until their 40s. Whether it be to focus on their careers, to travel or they may not have found the right partner.

But does putting off conceiving affect your chances of falling pregnant?

The truth is yes. In general, it becomes harder to fall pregnant the older you get. As a woman ages, her chances of falling pregnant naturally declines, A woman in her 20s has a 20% chance of falling pregnant naturally. This number decreases to 10% by age 36. Reach your early forties, and you are looking at just 4%.

The risk of miscarriage is a lot higher as you age. You may see woman in their 40s happily falling pregnant, however there are likely double that figure suffering miscarriages in silence.

How does ageing affect my eggs?

Women are born with a set number of eggs. Amazing right? Those tiny little humans already have their predetermined number of eggs. As a woman ages, the number of eggs decrease in both quality and quantity. So a woman in her 20s will have both a higher number, and higher quality of egg to fertilise. As woman age, the complications that can arise throughout pregnancy can also increase.

Whilst we cannot determine when and where our lives will lead us, a discussion around planning your family is an important one to be had. Be sure to know and understand the pros and cons of delaying your family and how it can affect the chances of falling pregnant.