A top fertility expert has come out and told women they should try to have a baby sooner rather than later, warning they may not have as much time to start a family as they would like.
In a letter to the British Education Secretary, consultant gynaecologist Professor Geeta Nargund has said women need to be better informed about the ages where they are at their optimal fertility.
“I have witnessed all too often the shock and agony on the faces of women who realise they have left it too late to start a family,” she wrote.
“For so many, this news comes as a genuine surprise and the sense of devastation and regret can be overwhelming. Information is power and the best way to empower people to take control of their fertility is through education.
“Ideally, if a woman is ready for a child, she should start trying by the time she is 30. She should consider having a child early because as a woman gets older, her fertility declines sharply.”
Professor Nargund has begun advocating for fertility lessons to be included in the national curriculum in Britain, as she has seen too many clients over the years who desperately want to conceive but are unable to due to their age.
Average IVF success rates for a fresh embryo transfer vary from 50 per cent for women under 30 years of age to 20 per cent for women over 40 years of age. As more Australian couples are delaying starting a family, perhaps Professor Nargund’s advice should be more heavily considered by women hoping to be mothers someday.
The news comes just a week after The Weekly published details of a 65-year-old woman, Annegret Raunigk, who gave birth to quadruplets, taking her total tally of children to 17.
Raunigk’s babies were born prematurely at 26 weeks, and are all currently being kept in incubators at a neonatal ward in Germany. You can read more about her story here.
