We all know that fertility and age don’t go hand in hand. Is it possible to stay fertile longer? According to the American Fertility Association a woman’s fertility begins to decline in the late 20′s, drops more sharply after 35 and plummets when she hits 40. After the age 30, the probability of getting pregnant naturally drops by 3%-5% per year and even faster after the age of 40! A healthy 30 year old woman has 20% chance of getting pregnant in any given month, by the time she turns 40 the chances drop to 5%!
But don’t throw the towel in just yet! There is hope. What these studies don’t tell you is the reason why fertility is dropping with advanced age.
Women are born will all of their eggs while men start producing their sperm in puberty. We’ve had those eggs around for a long time and everything we’ve ingested or inhaled or smeared on our skin over the course of our life has either left a positive or a negative mark on all body cells including the eggs and sperm.
Most of the fertility issues arising with age have to do with accumulation of toxins due to a longer exposure and prolonged lack of necessary nutrients which in turn results in poor energy production, and faster aging and deterioration of the cells including eggs and sperm.
Aged cells are no longer plump and efficient. This means that they are slow on the uptake of nutrients and removal of toxic waists. Their membranes are no longer as efficient as they used to be and they don’t communicate all too well anymore. Cells communicate with the other cells through nerve impulses and chemicals they release into the bloodstream letting the body know what they require for optimal function and cell repair. Aged cells don’t do that quite as well anymore.
Even if in this poor state of health conception occurs the likelihood of miscarriages and abnormalities is higher. But when the toxins are removed and the nutritional deficiencies addressed your chance of a healthy pregnancy and conception is significantly better. In fact many couples well into their 40s use a natural fertility program successfully.
However you have to stay realistic and depending on your age, state of health and genetic inheritance you may still require other options. Just because you waited a bit longer to have babies does not mean that you should rush now and skip preconception care. Take the time to give yourself and your baby the best possible chance of a successful and healthy conception and pregnancy.
Fertility and Age: How does preconception care increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby?
1. You know exactly which foods and substances are deteriorating your fertility and are contributing to ageing and as such you know what to avoid.
2. The detox allows your body to start with cell repair and toxin removal.
3. The fertility diet ensures you are getting enough building blocks required for optimal health of your eggs and sperm, as well as to sustain a healthy pregnancy.
4. All the nutrients required for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy development and growth of your baby are present.
At this point many of my patients say:
“I already have a good diet, eat healthily and exercise”
Many people don’t realize that many foods labeled as “healthy” are actually not. If you look closely at the ingredients you’ll see all sorts of additives and colors and sometimes even artificial sweeteners which are very toxic to the body. This is very common among vegetarians and vegans who think they have a very healthy diet by avoiding animal products but don’t pay much attention to the ingredients of the “fake ham” or “fake sausages” and similar products which miraculously taste just like the “real thing” but with no traces of animal product.
Moreover, even if you eat non processed food and where possible organic, the nutrient content of the food is not what it used to be 100′s of years ago. These days food can be picked or caught today in one country and flown out to another part of the world tomorrow so that you can buy it in the supermarket.
In that short space of time that food has been either frozen, or refrigerated, packaged in plastic, gassed, X-rayed, possibly sprayed or waxed to stay fresh for longer. By the time that food is in your plate it has lost half its nutrients and possibly contains a myriad of toxins your liver will have to deal with.
Another common misconception is when people think they eat very healthily by only eating sea food. Deep sea fish which lives for long time is loaded with mercury as are all the mussels and sea creatures without scales. This does not make Cray fish and shrimps healthy either as they crawl on the bottom of the sea and eat the sediment.
Unfortunately our seas are polluted with jet fuel which is rich in heavy metals, which have been found to be a big culprit in infertility. Even the purest organic diet, with cleanest water and toxin free environment may not meet the individual requirements for nutrients and supplementation for optimal preconception care is often required.
By putting simple steps into place not only will you be increasing your chances of getting pregnant naturally but you will also help turn back the hands of time on your appearance. The beauty is not skin deep and the youthful appearance doesn’t come from a jar or a bottle!
It comes from modifying your diet by avoiding:
1. fast food
2. fatty food
3. simple carbs (sugary foods)
4. white flour
5. soft drinks
6. coffee
7. alcohol
8. tap water
9. smoking
And modifying your lifestyle;
1. minimum of 7-9 hours of sleep,
2. regular exercise
3. reduced exposure to environmental toxins and radiation.
A study by Foresight, the Association for Pre-conceptual healthcare in the United Kingdom demonstrated an astounding success rate of 81% of conceptions among couples previously diagnosed as infertile. Women who participated in the study were between 25 and 45 years old and Men between 25 and 59 years old.”
So as you can see it is possible to stay fertile longer and conceive despite advanced age as long as you give your body what it needs to do its anti-ageing and healing work naturally.
Fertility and age are of great concern for many modern women. What about you? Are you 38+? Do you feel your fertility may be compromised by your age? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
© 2011 Iva Keene and Natural Fertility Prescription
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this text with it: Leading Fertility Specialist, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Award Winning Author Iva Keene publishes the ‘Baby Blossom’ ezine with tips to get you pregnant ASAP. Get you FREE Fertility Tips now at www.Natural-Fertility-Prescription.com
Had a lot of miscarriages, please advice with diet and supplements.
Hi Maji,
Thanks for your comment.
I’m sorry to hear about your miscarriages.
If you browse the categories on the blog you’ll find lots of good info on preventing miscarriages, fertility diet and supplements.
It’s also important to have further tests done to see what is causing the problem. In addition have your partner’s sperm tested to see if it’s healthy and make sure to check for anti sperm antibodies too.
For the full list of tests I recommend see the NFP program.
Warm regards,
Iva
I think this is a great piece you have written. As we age, the quality and quantity of our eggs diminish and so we do need to do a lot more to enhance your fertility. Detoxing, reducing the stress in your life, an organic diet, lots of high fibre content can all help. There are also other things that can be done, which are natural remedies some of which I know you have spoken about before: spirulina, royal jelly, wheat grass, a good B complex vitamin, a good intake of omega 3′s and antioxidants like CoQ10. Doctors are cut into 2 camps about DHEA and I have read that in Italiy woman are encouraged to take inositol with melatonin over the age of 35. And there are articles which also suggest l’arginine and choline. Other than that, there is also fertility yoga and fertility massage.
Here is the biggest thing though – all of these things are great to try and improve your fertility as you age, but they require a huge amount of effort and time, which when you are youger you may not need. Also as you age, other anatomical issues such as endometriosis and fibroids can become more of a problem.
I have issues with pumping people full of fertility drugs to get them to produce eggs like battery hens – modern medicine is very good at coming up with solutions to problems but does not do enough up front to prevent women being caught by the age and fertility conundrum. You see you say that ‘we all know that fertility and age dont go hand in hand’ but the problem is that we find this out often when it is all too late. The reality is that we dont all know exactly how fast fertility declines. Many people think it is only a problem when you hit 40 and have no idea that it starts to decline in your late twenties. The doctors dont tell you, families dont always talk about such things, friends often shy away from discussing such things. And nobody (whatever your age) knows how fertile they really are (man or woman) until they try for a baby.
Therefore, yes, I do feel that my fertility is compromised by my age – and honestly, I wish people had told me the stats you quote from the AFA website when I was in my late twenties and early thirties. I would certainly have made my life choices differently with the benefit of that knowledge. We cant assume everyone is well informed – the reality is that so many of us arent. And then get caught out.
Hi Antonia,
Thanks for your comment.
Very true and very wise advice you are sharing. And you’re right no one knows how fertile they are until they try to have a baby. Also many women and men assume just because they got pregnant when they were younger (planned or unwanted pregnancy) that they can do it again. Our quality of eggs and sperm can be influenced for better or worse in as little as 120 days, so there are no guarantees — like with most things in life. Yes, you do need to be disciplined and organized when eating a healthy diet, taking supplements and exercising. However I think we feel happier and perform better in life in general when we are disciplined with our selves and organized. This comes from our early days when we had lots of structure in life from going to school and doing certain things at specific times during the day/week. So although it requires work, the benefits are well worth it as you are not only improving your egg and sperm quality but also your other cells in the body improving your health and longevity in the long run.
Warm regards,
Iva
Thanks Iva this is a great article and rather inspiring. I am 44 years old in great health, ovulating with a good egg reserve considering my age. I also look about 10 years younger – I stay out of the sun and have an anti-oxidant rich alkaline diet with lots of tea, vegetables and fruit and lean meat. My concern is that although I may be in good health now my younger partner (26 years) has very low sperm count, poor mobility and abnormal morphology of 76% and 83%. We have been trying to conceive for nearly 2 years and it just hasn’t happened. His diet is also not optimal and it has been a real struggle for him to improve his diet, stop smoking and reduce alcohol and fast food. He is now taking champix to stop smoking but we are very disheartened as the champix course will take approx. 3 months and then he will have this chemical in his body on top of everything else for another 3 months. I feel I am really running out of time and even if he were to optimize his diet and lifestyle would we conceive and when. Any words of hope and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Megan
Hi Megan,
I would love to help you personally as I’ve had great results with improving sperm quality (count, motility and morphology).
Yes, the backbone of every successful treatment are dietary and lifestyle changes as outlined in the NFP program, but
in this case he will need to take practitioner grade supplements to speed up the process and ensure that he is
getting adequate amounts of all nutrients needed. Plus I’ll be able to tell what he needs to remove from his diet and
environment that’s contributing to his condition. For more information go here: http://natural-fertility-prescription.com/products/
I look forward to helping you.
Warm regards,
Iva
hello
What if I can not afford the price of the NFP program??
I am financially dependent on my husband.. hence can not afford the price…. do not own credit cards or debit cards for that matter… I reside in the UAE
Is there any other way????
Regards
SVP
I would be very interested in knowing the response to SVP’s question, as I am in the exact boat with her! I am 42 and would love every bit the chance to know the information other women get to have (as my clock is ticking away very quickly) but yet I do not work and my husband has the burden of all the finances on his self so I really cannot afford what alot of other women can.
But I do thank you ever so much for the info that you do share so freely,
Tlhanks!
Gina
Thanks Gina, I believe it has been answered, Iva
Hi, Iva. I, like Megan, am inspired by this artilcle as well as numerous others. I am a 44 year-old divorcee who has found true love in a wonderful man. My love for him has caused my desire for motherhood to resurface. I had pretty much given up on the idea, convincing myself that it “just wasn’t meant to be”. My first husband and I tried pretty much everything it seems. From fertility pills to seven (yes, 7!) IVR tries. I have several strikes against me….age, fibroids, poor egg quality, and a blocked fallopian tube. It seems to the universe was certainly working against me. I decided to look into a more natural alternative and found your website. I AM SO EXCITED at just the thought of one last chance. My future husband (planning for Spring, 2012) and I want to have a child together and we are both looking forward to using the NFP program. I haven’t purchased it yet but I have begun to make changes in my diet…no red meat, no pork, no caffeine, no alcohol just as a start. He is a smoker, however, he no longer smokes around me. And he is not completely closed to the idea of turkey burgers and turkey bacon. In fact, he’s actually starting to like it. I have two friends that are keeping me encouraged (one is vegan and she had already told me some of the things in your articles. I look forward to reading your articles everyday and I’m also looking forward to starting your NFP program.
Thank you for sharing and listening,
Adrian