Kirsty Allsopp says for women 'fertility falls off a cliff'

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has urged women to put off higher education and a career in favour of having children because their "fertility falls off a cliff". In a recent interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC Newsnight, Ms Allsopp, who met her husband when she was 32 and then had two children, said: "Nature is not with you and I. Nature is not a feminist." She also encouraged women to be "more honest" with one another about their biological clock, saying the topic was still "taboo". So what is the truth about the female fertility window? Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which was updated in 2013, is pretty encouraging. It says that "over 80% of couples in the general population will conceive within one year if the woman is aged under 40 years", if they have regular sexual intercourse and do not use contraception. NICE guidelines go on to state that "of those who do not conceive in the first year, about half will do so in the second year". That leaves around 10% of women - the percentage said to be affected by infertility in the UK. We know, of course, that female fertility declines with age, but is there really a dramatic drop-off at a certain point? No rule Mr Yacoub Khalaf, head of assisted reproduction at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London, says it is not quite as simple as that. "It is tempting to want a black and white answer, but biology doesn't work that way. "Some women find it difficult to conceive in their late 20s, while others don't have a problem into their 40s." So there is no rule, but science tells us that a woman's body does gradually change and there is nothing that can be done to alter that process. Mr Khalaf explains that from the age of 35, the rate of depletion of the follicles in the ovaries speeds up, and from the age of 40 they start to deplete even faster. These follicles are important because they house the eggs which will develop and mature before finally being released during ovulation. Hence, the quality and quantity of a women's eggs also begins declining sharply from around the age of 35 onwards. Read more ... Article: 7th June 2014 www.bbc.co.uk For more on testing your fertility visit www.prideangel.com/shop

Australian women unaware about their biological clock

A survey of more than 1000 women conducted on behalf of IVF Australia and affiliates of Virtus Health found 64 per cent of women did not know fertility rapidly declines after the age of 36. Six out of 10 also believed infertility in their 40’s was easily resolved with IVF. Professor Michael Chapman, fertility specialist IVF Australia said that the results show women did not have accurate information about their own reproductive health. “It’s a serious misconception that women can delay motherhood until their late 30s and rely on IVF to easily resolve their problems and conceive in their 40s, and these survey results suggest that is exactly what many women may do based on their beliefs,” Dr Chapman said. The survey also revealed one in five women incorrectly believed it only became difficult for a woman to fall pregnant naturally in her late 40’s. Dr Chapman said that 35 years of age was the turning point in a woman’s fertility. “For example, at 30, a woman has a 20 per cent chance of falling pregnant spontaneously per month, compared to less than 5 per cent chance per month when she is in her 40s,” he said.. A woman’s chance of conceiving via IVF in her 40’s is no guarantee he said. IVF success after the age of 45 is believed to be less than 1 per cent with a woman’s own eggs. “The reality is we can’t improve the quality of a woman’s eggs, and as a woman ages so do her eggs, and this impacts her chance of conceiving both spontaneously and with IVF,” Dr Chapman said. While the majority of Australian women have their first child at age 30, one in every 25 babies is now born to a mother over 40. In 2012, 12538 babies were born to 40-45 year olds. Dr Chgapman said the trend was also driven by fact women settle down later in life. “The other complicating factor is the reality that in today’s society many women don’t find their soul mate until their 30s, so we encourage women to understand their fertility to make decisions that suit their situation,” he said, adding stories like that of Halle Berry and Collette Dinnigan who both had a baby at age 47 were extremely rare. “The increase in media stories of celebrities having babies in their mid-40s has given people a false sense of security as to how age impacts their fertility,” Dr Chapman said. Article: 25th May 2014 www.dailytelegraph.com.au

When does your biological fertility clock start ticking?

More and more of us are putting off having kids to focus on our careers, so much so that we now delay having a baby for longer than women in any other country. And with celebrities like Nicole Kidman and Mariah Carey giving birth for the first time in their forties, it’s easy to imagine that we have all the time in the world. But when does the female biological clock actually start to tick? We’ve spoken to top fertility experts to give you the lowdown. British women are becoming mums for the first time later and later, and the birth of the royal baby earlier this month highlighted this trend. While Kate Middleton, at 31, was in no way old, she was still over a decade older than Princess Diana was when she gave birth to Prince William. Things have changed a lot in a generation and the number of first-time UK mothers in their 40s has risen by 15% in the last five years. But at what age do we actually need to start worrying about having kids from a biological perspective? While lots of women are able to conceive later on, could some of us be at risk of missing our chance to become a mother if we wait for too long? 35 could be key ‘There is no “magic number” at which female fertility declines but we know that eggs deteriorate with age,’ says Infertility Network UK’s deputy chief executive Susan Seenan. ‘The speed of that deterioration will vary but rises more steeply after the age of about 35. The more “fertility aware” you are the better, so you can make an informed decision and be aware that it might take you longer to conceive,’ she adds. The NHS agrees that 35 is a key age when it comes to female fertility. Women are most fertile in their early 20s and their fertility declines with age. From the age of 35, this fall becomes steeper. ‘Women in the 19-26 age group have double the chance of conceiving each menstrual cycle compared with 35-39-year olds,’ explains Fertility UK fertility nurse specialist Jane Knight. Women over 35 are also less likely to become pregnant from fertility treatments like IVF, and are more likely to suffer from miscarriages. So does this mean that we all need to get pregnant by 35 or risk never being able to have kids? Not necessarily. You may want to start worrying when you reach 37, though. ‘Egg quality diminishes significantly from about 37,’ explains Jane. Ask your mum Your personal danger age could also be down to genetics. Fertility expert Zita West suggests looking at your mum. ‘One important question to ask is at what age your mother had the menopause as this may be the same for you,’ she says. ‘The decline occurs when the quality of the eggs is diminished with age, and this is usually in the late thirties to early forties.’ But just because you’re still having periods, it doesn’t mean that you’ll get pregnant easily. ‘Nature plays a cruel trick in that women tend to go on having periods long after they have ceased to ovulate,’ says Jane. ‘The ovulation mechanism becomes faulty and the egg quality is very poor long before a woman reaches her menopause, and a woman may no longer be fertile for up to ten years before she has her last period. The average age for menopause is about 51, but many women will have a much earlier menopause.’ So does that mean that, for the average woman, 41 could be the pivotal age? Read more...

Men suffer from 'baby fever' as well as women, study reveals

A new study has revealed that men - as well as women - suffer from 'baby fever', the overwhelming desire to have children.
The emotional and physical phenomenon is usually associated with women, who can be subject to sudden and extreme maternal urges. Gary Brase, associate professor of psychology at Kansas State University, and his wife Sandra, a project co-ordinator with the university's College of Education, have spent nearly 10 years researching baby fever.

After releasing their findings yesterday Professor Brase said: 'Baby fever is this idea out in popular media that at some point in their lives, people get this sudden change in their desire to have children.

'While it is often portrayed in women, we noticed it in men, too.' The couple's interest began shortly after the birth of their second child, as Mrs Brase explained: 'Although one hears about people having baby fever from friends, family and in the media, I was curious if there was a scientific explanation for the presence, or lack of it, in both women and men.'

While some research has looked at the demographic and sociological aspects of having children, there had been no study from a psychological perspective, she said. The researchers started by applying three theoretical viewpoints about baby fever.

One is the socio-cultural view: People want to have a baby because they are taught gender roles. Women think they should have children because society dictates that is what they are supposed to do. A second reason is the by-product view: Humans have an engrained desire to nurture - when they see a cute baby they want to take care of it, and that makes them want a baby of their own.

The third is the adaptationist view: Baby fever is an emotional signal - like a suggestion sent from one part of the mind to the other parts - that this could be a good time to have a child.

The researchers then carried out studies to understand people's desires, particularly the wish to have a baby.

Professor Brase said: 'Sometimes you may have a desire to have a baby, sometimes you have desires to have money or be famous or have sex. 'We asked people to tell us where these desires ranked.'

The researchers found that baby fever existed in both genders. But while women more frequently desired having a child than having sex, men more frequently desired sex than having a child.

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Hormone test to reveal when your fertility will come to an end

A hormone test may help women to beat the biological clock by predicting how long they have left to have a baby, say scientists.
The team of researchers from St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh has found how levels of a key chemical change throughout a woman's reproductive life. This can reveal how many eggs she has remaining. The discovery will allow women to compare their own hormone levels with the average for their age to see whether they should be concerned about their future fertility.

Tests will indicate whether they are likely to have an early or later menopause, meaning they know whether they have to try for a baby sooner rather than later.

The process will also help young women who have had treatment for diseases such as cancer, which may have affected their fertility, to find out whether their hormone levels have been affected. It will also help older women who have put off having children to pursue a career. One in five babies are now born to women aged over 35.

This trend has raised concerns that some will struggle to conceive if they delay motherhood for too long, leading to a search for ways of predicting when women should attempt to conceive. For the latest research, the Scottish academics used all previous data plus their own latest findings on the Anti-Millerian Hormone (AMH) - a hormone produced by growing, egg-producing ovarian follicles.

They set out to map how levels of AMH vary at different points in the lives of healthy women by studying data from 3,200 women. They were able to deduce how a woman's AMH level compares with the average for her age as a result.

Findings could indicate whether they are likely to have an earlier menopause and should not delay trying to conceive, or whether their fertile life will end later. The study found that AMH levels peaked at the age of 24 but had almost halved by the time women were in their mid-30s and were almost nonexistent by their late 40s.

Tom Kelsey, a lecturer in the School of Computer Science at St Andrews, said: 'We knew that high AMH levels were good for conception but we could not back that up statistically. 'This study now provides us with the level you would expect to find in a normal healthy woman.' Professor Scott Nelson, from the University of Glasgow, said a major use of the new findings could be in helping young cancer patients wondering how their treatment may have affected their chances of having a baby. 'We can now see 18-year-old girls, know what their AMH is and put that into context,' he said.

Nelson added that if women of any reproductive age were struggling to get pregnant, the refined information could be used to indicate whether their AMH levels are normal for their age or below average. This could suggest how soon they might have to start thinking about fertility treatment such as IVF.

However, Prof Nelson said he would not recommend women in their 30s delaying having a baby because the AMH test appeared to suggest they had a certain number of fertile years left. 'It might be useful if you are much younger and in your 20s, but not in your mid-30s. For example, Down's syndrome risk is one in 250 at 35, but by the time you are 40 it is one in 100,' he said. 'If you wait those few years that risk is going to increase.'