to be worried about my fertility

[ticktickboomtick]

36 today.

Yikes.

People conceive in their 40s right please

Yes of course people conceive in their 40s but as you know fertility declines. Are you in a position to start a family soon?

Are you ttc?

I'm 36 (nearly 37) and ttc #no1

I know quite a few people who have conceived first time post 36 yo.

YANBU to worry

But worrying never made anyone pregnant.

What position are you in to take practical steps?

You need a plan

I've had my son at 36, he's 6 months and I'm a month or so off 37. I'm hoping for a sibling for him in a year or so!

Happy Birthday! It would be the easy option to tell you that everything will be OK and that plenty of people have babies in their 40s. In reality fertility declines dramatically after 35 and if you want a good chance of having a family you need to get on with it PDQ. I don't say this to upset you but because I've been through the fertility treatment mill have luckily have DD now but wouldn't want you or anyone else to go through it if it could be avoided.

I m 36 and nearly 38 weeks pg.

We were ttc for years and I do feel like I've been treated differently here for being an older mum but it's not the same everywhere.

Also I have a slightly younger friend who had her children very young and is now getting the start of empty nest syndrome already. When I consider everything I've done in my life this feels like exactly the right time in my life to be having a baby. I am undecided about having more afterwards but wouldn't want to be leaving it much later.

People do conceive in their 40s yes, anecdotally I know several, BUT this is not the norm especially if it's a first DC.

You'd be better off starting sooner if this is an option, or if not I've seen several clinic advertising fertility MOT type services,might be worth a look.

Most 36 years olds can conceive a child naturally even more can do it witha bit of help. Obviously it's not guaranteed and the longer you wait the more likely there is to be a problem.

I had ds at 39 (conceived at 38) but couldn't have a second at 40-42, when we gave up. Don't leave it any longer than you have to

I'm 37 and due to lack of sperm in my relationship had fertility tests last year. I have low fertility for my age but am ovulating and do have follicles so most likely have eggs. We are now moving onto IVF in the next few months a even though it's possible to get pregnant with my fertility level IVF gives a bigger chance.

I would look into getting fertility tests done. I've a friend who is not ready yet to have a baby at 38 but is doing a round of IVF so she can freeze (hopefully) some embryos for use in a couple of years.

I don't think 36 is too old for conceiving naturally. The only downside is that it may put too much pressure if it turns out that there are some fertility issues which the prson in question was not aware of.
Good luck and happy birthday :)

I've no man!

My friend that I mentioned above has no man that's why she's choosing to freeze embryos.

If you head to fertility friends they have a great section on single mums.

Well you're going to need one.

Or some stand-alone sperm.

Well maybe not literally 'stand-alone'

The myth that fertility on average declines dramatically after 35 is based on one tiny study.

Plenty of women conceive with no effort at all after 35. I am one of them.

Well yes arsenic but they are in short supply (decent ones anyway!)

Cripes. I am thinking seriously I may well be childless - which frightens me; I always wanted children.

Better to be having this thought process now than at 44.

Have you thought about getting your ovarian reserve checked? That could give you a clearer idea were you stand.

I thought I'd be childless on my 36th birthday. I tested positive for DD1 on my 37th birthday.

Congrats mother!

Arsenic - what would be the point though (very genuinely!) as I'm not obviously in a position to ttc. If I met a man six months later and it was serious I can see why it would be a good idea but at the moment would possibly make me panicked for no reason?

If it came down to it, would a flawed but mainly decent one do?

If you're pressed for time it might be worth computing a few of those hypothetical scenarios.

What frightens you most - not having children or imperfect relationship? Or going it alone?

Because lots of end up going it alone anyway, whether we thought we were going to or not.

I'm not sure arsenic. Depends on the flaw. No one is perfect but I do sometimes get 'hey I know this great bloke - er, cocaine isn't a problem, is it?'

Really it has to be about a child not me.

Yes people do conceive in the 40s, of course.

But it's usually completely out of the blue when they were not expecting to, or with a bit of help from an infertility doctor.

I doubt many (relatively speaking) women in their 40s set out to TTC and just manage it without any problems within a few months.

So basically the ideal would be to meet someone nice who wants to have kids himself soon - the plan then should be to focus on how to make that happen, while also thinking about backup plans like donated sperm. Happy birthday BTW

Could you have some eggs frozen perhaps?