The Best Age To Get Pregnant

You can technically get pregnant from the time you have your first period during puberty all the way up until you’ve completed menopause later in life. But with so much time in between, when is the best time to have a baby?

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Your peak reproductive years, when you have the most eggs available to you, fall between your late teens and late 20s. Once you hit your 30s, your fertility (your ability to get pregnant) begins to decline.

That said, it’s not always ideal to get pregnant as early as possible. Depending on where you are with your mental and physical health, finances, career and other life goals, you may want to hold off from having a baby until the time is right for you — and that’s more than OK. The timing of having children is unique to each and every parent.

Ob/Gyn Jacqueline Zuponcic, DO, explains why age is just one factor that informs your family planning and what’s happening biologically as you get older.

Why fertility changes with age

You were born with a reproductive system that contains all the eggs you’ll ever produce during your entire reproductive lifetime — and the number and quality of those eggs declines over time. At birth, you have about 1 million eggs. That number then drops to about 300,000 at puberty and continues to drop until you have none left and no longer have a menstrual cycle (menopause).

If you start trying for pregnancy at the age of 35 or 40, you’re working with fewer eggs that have been housed in the ovaries for decades.

“Biologically, we can’t expect those eggs to be quite as high-quality as they were when we were under the age of 35,” Dr. Zuponcic explains. “With age, the microscopic machinery within the ovary that is responsible for ensuring each egg gets the correct amount of DNA is not as good. It’s more common to make eggs, as we get older, that have too much or too little genetic material. This increases the chance of having a child with a genetic disorder and can increase the risk of miscarriage.”

Is it more difficult to get pregnant as you get older?

Getting pregnant at the advanced maternal age of 35 or older can increase your risks with pregnancy and make it harder to conceive — but try not to let those terms defeat you if you become pregnant later in life. It’s not impossible or even unusual to get pregnant beyond age 35. And one person’s experience at 35 or 40 won’t always be the same as your own.

“There’s nothing magic about the exact age of 35,” Dr. Zuponcic clarifies, “but your pregnancy risks do increase as you age. For many, it becomes more difficult to achieve pregnancy, and miscarriage rates go up, as well.”

In general, pregnancy at any age is a biologically complex process that’s dependent on your overall health and wellness. If you’re practicing healthy habits, like watching your weight, not smoking, eating right and exercising, you may very well be able to have children in your late 30s or early 40s.

If potential complications are of concern, your healthcare providers will work with you to ensure your mental and physical health are supported throughout the entirety of your pregnancy to help reduce your risk for complications as much as possible.

“If you’re considering getting pregnant, see your doctor for a one-on-one discussion about your personal risk factors, your health status and any specific concerns you have about getting pregnant,” advises Dr. Zuponcic.

Risks with pregnancy at an advanced age

Both you and your infant face potential health risks when a pregnancy occurs at an advanced age.

Possible health risks to the mother include:

Risks for fetal development may include:

Birth defects
Genetic disorders like Down syndrome
Low birth weight
Preterm birth
Admission to the neonatal intensive care unit

Advantages to waiting

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that U.S. mothers are waiting longer to have their first child, with the birth rate for women in their late 30s and older rising dramatically in the last 20 years. The median age of first-time mothers in the U.S. is now 30, up from age 27 in 1990.

Some studies have even suggested a possible link between late-age births and mortality, in that, women who’ve given birth later in life tend to live longer.

Some advantages of waiting to get pregnant may revolve around making sure you have enough resources, security and a solid foundation for your family. The cultural implications of becoming a parent are also often important.

But families come in all shapes and sizes, and a visit with an Ob/Gyn can help lay out the next steps toward growing yours. These steps could include natural conception, sperm banks, donor eggs, in vitro fertilization and fertility referral.

Talk to your doctor about planning for pregnancy and your health

If you have any concerns about your ability to get pregnant now or in the future, make an appointment to speak with a doctor. It can’t hurt to have the conversation early.

Providers can address your concerns and decide whether any testing is appropriate. (Fertility testing isn’t necessarily considered helpful until you’re ready to conceive.) Testing could include blood work, imaging tests and a consideration for a semen analysis.

If you have questions about future fertility, like freezing your eggs, a referral to a fertility specialist could be helpful.

“Placing a referral for a fertility discussion is very easy and we’re happy to do it,” says Dr. Zuponcic. “At this time, egg freezing isn’t a recommended solution because of aging alone. Typically, egg freezing is recommended if there’s a known future risk of ovarian damage from chemotherapy or other medical conditions.”

Additionally, if you have a known medical condition that may affect your ability to get pregnant or impact your pregnancy, don’t wait to talk to your doctor about it. Those conversations can and should happen as soon as you’re even considering trying to conceive.

“The sooner a dialogue starts to take place with your physician or healthcare provider, the better we are able to anticipate and manage the issues that come along with your condition,” she continues.

Such conditions include but aren’t limited to: