When it comes to fertility, there is a lot of misinformation out there.
There are many fertility myths that you shouldn’t believe and that may even be delaying your baby journey.
From the dangers of being a ‘geriatric’ mother to the limitations of In vitro fertilization (IVF), we demystify the issues surrounding fertility and see if we cannot get you started on your baby-making journey.
Here are 5 myths that we’ve busted:
- Women over 35 cannot get pregnant
Many women today find themselves trying to conceive after the age of 35. This opportunity can be full of joy and many questions with women being told that they simply cannot conceive after a certain age. It is an absolute myth that you cannot have a baby after the age of 35, especially with all the help you can get, such as IVF, if necessary.
- Getting pregnant when you’re older is harmful
Doctors sometimes worry about high rates of complications with pregnancy in older women. Older mothers do have higher rates of a number of medical problems during pregnancy, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and premature labour. But most won’t. One study found that around 80% of women aged over 45 had no major medical problems during pregnancy and more than 80% gave birth at full term.
- You are less fertile after being on the pill for a long period of time
You may have friends or family members warn you about not taking the pill too long, because it may delay you getting pregnant once you’re off of it, but, luckily, that’s a myth. Researchers found that women who had used birth control pills for longer rather than shorter time periods were more likely to get pregnant. Similarly, long-term use had no negative effect on the probability of getting pregnant.
- Only women are responsible for problems with conceiving
When couples experience infertility, there’s often a misconception that the problem is the woman’s. But according to research, infertility issues are split evenly between males and females. Each group is responsible for 30 percent of infertility, and the rest is attributable to a combination of either male and female factors or unexplained reasons.
- IVF does not work with older women
Yet these “success” rates are based on IVF treatment with the woman’s own eggs. Women under 35 using their own eggs for IVF have about a 40% chance of having a baby, but for women over 42, that chance drops to 4.5%. However, using donor eggs changes the picture entirely: the chances of having a baby through IVF increases to 49.6% when fresh donor eggs are used, for women of any childbearing age. Where the egg donor is young, older women have the same sort of chances of “success” with IVF as younger women.