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The End of Fertility

Catherine McDiarmid-Watt | Friday, February 09, 2018 | 0 comments

Image: Pregnant Belly, by Fernandosinop on Pixabay
Onset of capacity for childbearing in women is dated biologically by menarche, although actual onset may be delayed.

The end of childbearing is less understood but recent demographic and biological research on fertility at older ages in clarifying the end of fertility.

The demographic view of declining fertility with age is based on age-specific fertility in natural fertility populations, artificial insemination and pregnancy rates by age and World Fertility Survey data.

New data from the Demographic and Health Surveys on exposure to the risk of pregnancy shows that whereas older women biologically need longer exposure to pregnancy, exposure declines on behavioral grounds such as duration of marriage. Actual fecundity is obscured by factors of fecundability.

Recent research on medically assisted conception is adding to the understanding of declining fecundity with age, especially the relative contributions of endometrial and ovarian ageing. This paper reviews the available information on declining fertility with age and discusses the implications of the extension of fertility through new medical technologies.

PIP: This literature review on fecundity and age interactions discusses studies on menopause, on artificial insemination, on sexual behavior, and on assisted reproductive technology<. Challenges to the age old notion of biological reproductive declines with age have appeared since the advent of new technologies and the understanding of reproductive potential.

With donated oocytes, acyclic women can have a higher probability of conception than young women conceiving naturally. The beginning of childbearing is easily demarcated with the advent of menstrual cycles and fecundity with first ovulation. There are societal constraints on fecundity. Fixing a date on the end of childbearing is not as clear cut.

An understanding of the limits of childbearing comes from research on cessation of ovarian follicular function, on natural childbearing populations and ages of women at their last birth, and on achieved pregnancy among women artificially inseminated. The end of menopause tends to occur during the mid-50s, but natural population data indicate that fecundity usually ends at around 39-41 years.

The gap between fecundity and menopause is determined to be about 8-10 years. Findings from the artificial insemination literature indicate conception rates decline for women older than 30 years. Van Noord-Zaadastra finds that conceptions among women aged 31 years and older are 66% of those for women aged 21-30 years, after 12 cycles of insemination.

Young women conceive in about 90% of cases in 24 cycles. Comparisons with natural fertility indicate that use of fresh sperm increases pregnancy rates in cases of insemination. Sex behavior surveys find that coital frequency declines with age, which reduces the risk of pregnancy.

Coital frequency is also related to marriage duration; studies reveal women married for 30 or more years have half the coital frequency rate of women married for four years or less. Reports of intercourse within the past month show a decline by age. Coital frequency and acceptance of extramarital relations have been found to be culture-dependent.

Kerin at al. show oocyte production and fertilization rates decline with age. The quality of the uterus also declines with age. Navot et al. find a high pregnancy rate in women aged 40 years and older when oocytes are donated.

Related Links
-- Reproductive potential in the older woman [Fertil Steril. 1986]

-- Fecundity and natural fertility in humans [Oxf Rev Reprod Biol. 1989]

-- Fertility in older women [IPPF Med Bull. 1984]

-- Age and infertility in a micronesian atoll population [Hum Biol. 1993]

-- Delaying childbearing: effect of age on fecundity and outcome of pregnancy [BMJ. 1991]

Source: The end of fertility: age, fecundity and fecundability in women


TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Image: 40 and Pregnant!: What to expect when you are having your first child and are at (or near) the age of 40, by Dena Kennedy. Publisher: CreateSpace (July 11, 2010)40 and Pregnant!: What to expect when you are having your first child and are at (or near) the age of 40
by Dena Kennedy

-- This is a book for women who are at or near the age of 40 and pregnant for the first time.

This book explains many things that happen to a woman, her body and her mind when having children later in life.

It is also helpful to anyone who is pregnant or just recently had a baby.

About the Author: I am a mother of two and a full time legal secretary for a high profile law firm. Trying to juggle family life and a career at the same time can be difficult.

I would like to share with you what to expect when you are ... 40 and Pregnant!

Image: Buy Now on Amazon.comPaperback: 138 pages
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Catherine

About Catherine: I am mom to three grown sons, two grandchildren and two rescue dogs. After years of raising my boys as a single mom, I remarried a wonderful man who had never had a child of his own. Unexpectedly, I found myself pregnant at 49!
Sadly we lost that precious baby at 8 weeks, and decided to try again. Five more losses, turned down for donor egg, foster care and adoption due to my age and losses - we have accepted that there will be no more babies in our house.

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