This is the reason why a quarter of women say that they wish they’d tried for a baby earlier

It seems that up to a quarter of women wish they’d tried to conceive earlier in life. A survey conducted by Red magazine found that 24 per cent of women aged between 28 and 45 regret waiting so long to have a baby and 17 per cent of women were worried about their ability to conceive naturally.

Irish women already leave it later than the rest of Europe to have children.

Earlier this year Dr Simon Fishel, who works at the Beacon Care Fertility IVF clinic in Dublin and who was part of the team involved in the birth of the world’s first IVF baby in 1978, told the Irish Times "when a woman gets to 40, probably about 70-80 per cent of her eggs have a chromosomal anomaly".

The Red study also showed that women are resorting to IVF quicker because they fear that they will not fall pregnant naturally. Manchester-based fertility specialist Dr Mark Sedler said: "Patients are coming to us earlier than before, after trying to conceive naturally for a shorter period. "They are saying 'I at least need to know what's going on.' "I think it's better to be investigated earlier rather than late, and wasting precious time,” he added. The survey, which polled 3,000 women, showed that one in five women have considered becoming a single mother through a sperm donor.