IVF- FAQs - How does age affect IVF success rates ?

This is part 1 of our IVF-FAQ series. The woman’s age is the most important prognostic factor which determines IVF success. In sharp contrast, the age of the man doesn’t have a significant impact on the outcome of an IVF cycle. Pregnancy and live birth rate after IVF decline with increasing maternal age because the success of an IVF cycle depends on the number of eggs that can be harvested from the ovaries and their genetic quality.   As a woman ages,  her ovaries age too and old ovaries have poor ovarian reserve. Ovarian reserve is defined by the number of usable eggs left in the ovaries. Aging cause two significant changes in a woman’s ovaries : 1.    The number of eggs present in her ovaries decreases  ( All the eggs that are present in a woman’s ovaries are formed when she was a fetus. Ovaries do not have the ability to produce new eggs and hence we do not know how to renew egg supply once this is exhausted !)2.    The quality of eggs (their genetic competence and mitochondrial quality ) remaining in her ovaries becomes poor too. As a result, women of Advanced Maternal Age (AMA) have a poor chance of success with ART treatments. Even if they achieve a pregnancy, the chance of miscarriage is greater than 50% for women who are above 40 years old as compared to the miscarriage rate of 12% for women of 20 years. This high miscarriage rate is due to the presence of chromosomal abnormalities in older eggs. Eggs from old...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Ovary In vitro fertilisation Poor ovarian reserve Pregnancy rate Egg donation Infertility Source Type: blogs