What’s the childbearing age?

Technically, women can get pregnant and bear children from puberty when they start
getting their menstrual period to menopause when they stop getting it. The average
woman’s reproductive years are between ages 12 and 51.

Your fertility naturally declines as you get older, which could make it harder for you to
conceive. And starting a family later in life could pose greater risks for pregnancy
complications.

Experts say the best time to get pregnant is between your late 20s and early 30s. This age
range is associated with the best outcomes for both you and your baby.
One study pinpointed the ideal age to give birth to a first child as 30.5.

Your age is just one factor that should go into your decision to get pregnant. You also need
to consider your emotional and financial readiness to start a family. That timing is unique for
each woman1.

How does age affect fertility?

Women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have — about 2 million of them. Your number
of eggs gradually falls over the years.

By age 37, you’ll have about 25,000 eggs left. By age 51, you’ll only have 1,000 eggs left.
That might still sound like a lot of eggs, but the quality of your eggs also goes down as you
age.

Your risk for developing conditions that can negatively impact fertility,
like endometriosis and tubal disease, also increases as you get older.

Because of these factors, your fertility begins to gradually decline at around age 32. Starting
between 35 and 37, fertility begins to drop more quickly.

Your chance of getting pregnant decreases as you get older. After three months of trying,
your odds of conceivingTrusted Source in during your next cycle are:

1
https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/childbearing-age#age-and-fertility
Medically reviewed by Holly Ernst, PA-C on June 6, 2018 — Written by Stephanie Watson
  18 percent at age 25
 16 percent at age 30
 12 percent at age 35
 7 percent at age 40

Other factors may reduce your chances of getting pregnant, including:

 smoking
 cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy
 pelvic infection

Risks of Pregnancy Over Age 30

Many women wait until later in life to have children. In the United States, birth
rates for women in their 30s are at the highest levels in 4 decades. But an
older mother may be at increased risk for things such as:

 Miscarriage
 Birth defects
 Twins
 High blood pressure
 Gestational diabetes
 Difficult labor
Some studies show that while there is a higher risk of pregnancy problems in
older women, their babies may not have more problems than babies of
younger women. This is more likely when women get prenatal care and give
birth in a healthcare facility ready to care for high-risk mothers and babies.

Risk for chromosome problems

The risk for chromosome problems increases with the mother's age. The
chance of having a child with Down syndrome increases over time. The risk is
about 1 in 1,250 for a woman who conceives at age 25. It increases to about 1
in 100 for a woman who conceives at age 40. The risks may be higher. This is
because many statistics only report live births. They do not note pregnancies
with chromosome problems that ended due to pregnancy loss.
 After having 1 child with Down syndrome, the chance of having another baby
with Down syndrome is higher. After age 40, the recurrence risk for Down
syndrome is based on the age of the mother at delivery. Most babies with
Down syndrome are born to women under the age of 35. This is because
women under the age of 35 have more babies than women over 35.

Risk for miscarriage

Some studies have shown a higher chance of miscarriage (early pregnancy
loss) in older mothers. For all women, about half of first trimester miscarriages
happen because of a chromosome problem in the baby. The risk of
chromosome problems increase with the mother’s age. So miscarriage is also
more likely.

Working with your healthcare provider

If you are pregnant and over the age of 30, talk with your healthcare provider
about your health. Discuss plans for helping you and your baby have a
healthy pregnancy.

Your healthcare provider may refer you to a genetic specialist or genetic

counselor. He or she can explain the results of chromosome tests in detail.
This includes what the risks may be in another pregnancy and what tests can
diagnose chromosome problems before a baby is born.

Prenatal testing can help diagnose or rule out chromosome problems and
other genetic birth defects. Testing may include:

 Blood tests
 Ultrasound, which uses sound waves to look at organs and other tissues in
the baby
 Chorionic villus sampling (CVS), a test done on a sample of the tissues
around the baby
 Amniocentesis, a test done on a sample of the amniotic fluid
 Cell-free fetal DNA, which checks the mother's blood for chromosome
problems
Medical Reviewers:
 Donna Freeborn PhD CNM FNP
 Heather Trevino
 Irina Burd MD PhD