A recent Dr. Oz show opened up a can of worms when it asked the question “When Are You Too Old to Have a Baby?”  Many women felt the show portrayed older mothers negatively and made sweeping generalizations about the use of fertility treatments and egg donors. Some even said that waiting to have children was selfish.

Trying on Your Own

Female age is a critical factor in determining the chances for getting pregnant. Increased infertility with female aging is well-documented and very common in our society. Due to the societal trend of increased numbers of women who delay childbearing for educational/career goals, delayed marriages or second marriages, we now have a significant increase in age-related infertility. Women are born with all of the eggs they will ever have. The eggs are contained in 'egg sacs' called follicles. As women age, throughout life the supply of eggs (ovarian reserve) gradually declines over time until the eggs are essentially depleted at menopause. In general, egg quality and quantity start to decline slowly starting in the early 30s, and then much faster in the late 30s and early 40s. At any given time, the number of good eggs that remain is very dependent on the woman's age plus other factors, such as genetics and previous ovarian surgeries.