Though, it is true that, the main factor in getting pregnant is age.
When we aren’t born yet, we have millions of ovogonias (around 6 million), but only at birth we lose more than half and will keep around 1 million. When our fertile life starts with our period, we have lost already half again and those 500 thousand ovocytes that remain are the ones we will use during our reproductive life. That is what we call EGGS RESERVE.
The ovary has a cycle of 72 days, it programs the ovocytes that will go to the ovarian surface in each of our period cycles. From the number programmed, only one will ovulate and the rest will be lost.
There is no treatment until today, or any medicine that can make us keep the eggs that have not been used in previous cycles or bring to the present cycle all the ones left as reserve for the next months or years.
For all these reasons, the younger we are, the easier it will be to get pregnant, as our eggs are young and we have a higher quantity. The conception probabilities reach their peak at the age of 20 and start to decline at 30.
The conception rates with own eggs and with natural means are of 30% when we are 30, 11% when we are 35 and only 3% at 40.
These data should be known by the couple in order to know the pregnancy expectancies they have with natural means. Besides age, the duration of the couple’s union also plays an important role. For all these reasons, it is key to visit a fertility specialist who will be able to treat each case separated and personalized giving a proper diagnosis.
Dra. Sonia I. Fuster Rojas
Gynecologist and Fertility Specialist of Centro FiVER