QuestionMy husband and I have been trying for a further baby since our daughter was born in 2007, but so far we have been unsuccessful.
I am a 44 year old mother of 3, 2 boys aged 18 and 14 years by a previous partner and a daughter aged 15 mths with my husband who is 41.
In between having my 2 boys I had 3 miscarriages and a further 3 immediately before I managed to fall pregnant with our daughter, one of which was a molar pregnancy. My husband and I had blood tests but all were normal.
Towards the end of the pregnancy with my daughter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes which went as soon as she was born, she was also diagnosed with Strep B which fortunately was only on her skin. I have since been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and am on insulin whilst trying to conceive.
I have always been really fertile in the past and have never had a problem conceiving, maintaining the pregnancy beyond 8 weeks was the problem, but since our daughter was born we have not had any luck.
Before I fell pregnant with our daughter, I was able to fall pregnant 3 times within 10 mths, which included having to wait 10 weeks after each miscarriage to get the all clear, with regard to the previous molar pregnancy, before we were able to try again.
My GP has taken bloods which showed that I am still ovulating and my hormone levels are normal, my husband is due to get his sperm count results tomorrow.
We have used a fertility monitor which showed my most fertile time, but so far have not been lucky.
Past ultrasounds showed that I have some small fibroids, but nothing significant.
I welcome your comments. Thank you for your assistance in this matter, I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Regards
AnswerDear Sue,
Thank you for all the historical information. Your daughter was conceived 27 months ago, at the age of 41-42. At that age, the chances of pregnancy was 1% per year of trying. Now at 44 years old, the chances of pregnancy are very very low. Probably less than 0.5% per year of trying. With this decreased chance of pregnancy is an increased chance of miscarriage. This has little to do with your ovulation or inherent fertility, but has all to do with the age of your eggs. A woman is born with all the eggs she will have in her lifetime. These eggs age with her and deteriorate over time. That is what I call the "age related egg factor."
This is the reason you are not getting pregnant. Note that the pregnancy rate is not 0%, but the chances are low. At this point you would have three choices:
1. Continue trying on your own.
2. Proceed to IVF, which would increase the chances to approximately 20% per attempt.
3. Proceed to IVF with donor eggs, which would increase the chances to 50-60% per attempt.
I hope this answers your questions.
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
