The age in which women have their first child has increased steadily over the past 20 years, a trend that has led many to seek out fertility treatments to try and beat their biological clock.
But a major new study, conducted over the last 16 years at the HARI clinic at Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, has revealed gloomy statistics for women in their 40s still dreaming of motherhood. Findings shows how women who undergo fertility treatment have less than half the chance of getting pregnant at age 43-45 compared to 40-42,
It also emerged that even among those in the mid-forties who did become pregnant, the risk of losing their baby was substantially greater than among the younger age group.
According to the authors of the study, embryologists Dr Linda O' Shea, Dr Ciara Hughes and Dr Ed Mocan, women in their 40s seeking fertility treatment now accounted for nearly one in five patients at the clinic, compared to just 7.2pc n 1997.
The ability to get pregnant through fertility treatment relies largely on the state of a woman's eggs and the ability to develop quality embryos, the study, which was published in the Irish Medical Journal, pointed out. The doctors involved in the study said a large proportion of miscarriages that happen in the first trimester were due to abnormalities associated with the eggs of older women.
Using a younger woman's eggs could be an answer to this, and is hailed as a "very promising option" for women over 40 according to the study. They could also consider embryo donation. Keep in mind, however, that there currently is no legislation in Ireland covering egg or embryo donation.
