A lively debate on late childbearing age erupted on my Instagram page. Opinions were strongly divided. Some believed that after 30, it's too late to have children, while others were willing to consider it even in their 50s.
To answer this question, let's delve into female physiology.
A woman is capable of conceiving for about 4% of her lifetime, and this is because female fertility is limited by the onset of puberty and menopause.
Another limiting factor is the number of egg cells given to each woman by nature. An unborn girl receives her entire supply of egg cells for her entire life. Some get more, and some get less. We are all different.
By the time of sexual maturity, a woman's ovaries contain about 300,000 follicles, from which egg cells will develop over her lifetime.
With age, this supply is depleted, along with the ability to become pregnant. If you consider that the period of sexual maturity begins at 9-13 years old, a simple calculation will show that the supply of follicles will be exhausted by around 44-48 years old.
However, it should also be noted that as women age, ovulations become rarer, partly because of a reduced hormonal response in the body, and reaching the peak of sex hormones required for ovulation becomes more challenging.
It is also known that a woman's fertility sharply decreases about 10 years before menopause, around the age of 41 on average.
It should be understood that these figures do not account for the reproductive potential of each individual woman. I believe you know women who managed to get pregnant and give birth naturally at a later age. For example, my favourite Monica Bellucci became a mother at the ages of 40 and 46.
I think you also know sad examples when it was too late for pregnancy due to premature menopause.
It can be assumed that the ultimate deadline for pregnancy depends on the number of follicles in the ovaries and the overall health of the woman.
On our Healthy Pregnancy course, we teach you how to track and analyse fertility biomarkers in order to assess the state of your fertility, track possible disorders and determine the time most suitable for conception. Join the program to become an expert in your reproductive health.
How do you feel about late motherhood, and do you have any examples to share?
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