It is never too late to start or expand your family. Today, an increasing number of women are having children later in life due to several factors such as women spending more time in education and work and rising economic concerns.
As a result, many older women are searching for options as to how they can achieve a successful pregnancy later in life. In this article, we will look at how women over 50 can get pregnant and what fertility treatments are available for them.
Can a 50 Year Old Woman Conceive Naturally?
The age of the woman is the single biggest factor affecting her chance to conceive successfully and have a healthy baby. While there isn’t a specific age when you can get pregnant naturally, fertility does start to decline as you age.
It is not impossible for women who are 50 or above to get pregnant with natural ways. However, it is accepted as a very rare occasion.
Can You Get Pregnant During Menopause?
Menopause marks the end of a woman’s menstrual cycles. It’s officially diagnosed after a woman has not had a menstrual period for a total of consecutive 12 months.
Before menopause begins, women experience a transitional period, known as perimenopause. The menopausal transition often starts anytime between ages 45 and 55, and it can last between 4-7 years on average. Because women will have their period from time to time during their perimenopause, they can still get pregnant during this time.
However, women will not be able to become pregnant naturally once they have reached menopause, because they will no longer produce eggs or ovulate. The average age when women experience menopause is around 50 years old, so many women over this age will not be able to conceive naturally.
How Does Aging Affect Fertility and Pregnancy?
As a woman gets older, her fertility rate drops due to the decreasing number and quality of the remaining eggs.
Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, and no new egg cells are produced during a woman’s lifetime. The number of eggs naturally declines over time with each menstrual cycle, and their number sharply declines throughout your 40s and 50s. In fact, many women will have already lost almost 90% of their eggs by the time she is even 30.
For example, a 30 year old woman often has around 100,000-150,000 eggs in reserve. But by the time, she reaches 40, she will be down to about 20,000 eggs. This number will continue to go down and eventually all eggs will be depleted as women reach menopause.
Another factor that aging has an impact on is the quality of the eggs. As you age, you will have fewer eggs, and they will more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities which can lead to several problems.
Risks of Becoming Pregnant After 50
Unfortunately, there are health hazards associated with being pregnant at 50. With pregnancies over 50, there is a higher risk of gestational diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and cardiac issues.
As a woman gets older, her eggs become more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities, which can cause miscarriage or give birth to a child who has a serious condition such as Down syndrome or Turner syndrome.
Pregnancy is not easy at any age. However, pregnancies by women over 50 can be considered high-risk pregnancies, and they will need to be monitored more closely. After age 50, additional risks to consider related to labor and delivery can be expected. At 50, women are more likely to have a cesarean delivery due to their age.
How Can a Woman Become Pregnant After 50?
Today, there are several fertility treatments that can help women to have a baby at a later stage in life. Fertility treatments such as IVF can really increase your chances of getting pregnant over 40 or 50.
Because of the decreasing number and quality of a woman’s eggs over time, it is strongly recommended that women over 50 use egg donations during IVF. It is difficult for older women to achieve a successful pregnancy with IVF using their own eggs.
If you have not already gotten your eggs frozen when you were younger, you should consider using donor eggs provided by younger women as this can increase your chances more. It is possible to get pregnant with IVF using egg donations or embryo donations even after menopause.
What Is Egg Donation?
When a woman donates her eggs to another woman, the recipient can use those eggs to conceive a child. Egg donations are a great option for women who are facing infertility problems due to factors such as menstrual cycle problems, ovary problems, or aging. For many women with age-related infertility, egg donation is the best solution.
How Does Egg Donation Work?
In IVF treatments, eggs and sperm are fertilized outside the body in a laboratory environment before being placed into the woman’s uterus for implantation. With egg donations, the woman uses another, usually younger, woman’s eggs for this procedure. The sperm can be collected from the woman’s partner or sperm donations can be used as well. Using healthy eggs from a younger woman increases the chance of a successful pregnancy for women who cannot get pregnant with their own eggs.
Egg donors are usually young women between the ages of 21 and 35. Before egg donations are accepted, the donor candidates have to pass physical and mental health screenings. The egg donations are often stored in egg banks which provide a diverse range of qualities. If you decide to use egg donations for IVF, you will be able to pick an egg donor that is most suitable for you.
Egg donors are usually anonymous. However, you will be able to learn a lot of non-identifying details about the donor including physical traits such as their blood type, ethnic background, height, weight, body build, eye color, hair color, and hair texture. Often, information like education, occupation, special interests, and family medical history will also be available.
How Much Does IVF with Egg Donation Cost?
Compared to IVF using the patient’s own eggs, IVF egg donation treatment is more expensive. Considering that it is not guaranteed that every IVF cycle will lead to a successful pregnancy, paying for multiple IVF cycles with egg donations can be very expensive.
In the UK, a single IVF cycle using egg donation can cost anywhere from £9,000-£11,000. In the USA, the prices can triple this amount reaching more than $30,000 in some cases.
This is why fertility tourism, traveling abroad for fertility treatments, is becoming more popular across the world. There are several destinations that offer world-class services and successful treatments for much cheaper prices.
What Is the Best Country for IVF Egg Donation? Fertility Clinics in Cyprus
Each year, a growing number of international couples and individuals seek to get fertility treatments abroad. There are several factors to consider when choosing a fertility clinic. Of course, the success rates and the pricing is at the top of the list.
One of the most popular destinations for IVF treatments among foreign patients is Cyprus. IVF is one of the biggest sectors in Cyprus and the country has acquired a reputation as one of the top locations for fertility treatments worldwide in the past decade.
Fertility clinics in Cyprus offer IVF, egg donation, sperm donation, embryo donation, egg freezing, sperm freezing, and embryo freezing treatments among other treatments such as IVF gender selection.
What Is IVF Gender Selection in Cyprus?
The availability of gender selection treatment is another factor in the large number of people who travel to Cyprus for IVF. Nowadays, it is possible to identify an embryo’s gender before implanting it in a woman’s uterus. Couples can choose whether to have a boy or a girl by using a procedure known as gender selection, sometimes referred to as sex selection.
Most nations around the world, including the UK, do not offer this treatment. The clinics in Cyprus have remarkable success rates and have a great deal of experience with gender selection therapy.
How Much Does IVF Egg Donation Cost in Cyprus?
Cyprus offers some of the most competitive and affordable prices concerning fertility treatments such as IVF and egg donation.
| Treatments in Cyprus | Prices in € |
| IVF with own eggs | €4,000 |
| IVF with Egg Donation | €6,500 |
| IVF with Embryo Donation | €7,500 |
| IVF + Gender Selection | €7,500 |
| IVF with Egg Donation + Gender Selection | €9,500 |
| IVF with Embryo Donation + Gender Selection | €11,000 |
Moreover, fertility clinics in Cyprus offer additional package prices that include all services such as accommodation at the best 5-star hotels in Cyprus and all transfers between the airport, hotel, and clinic among other services.
The clinics in Cyprus are equipped with the latest technologies and all medical staff is well-trained specialists with years of experience welcoming international patients.
It is possible to have a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby later in life. If you are considering getting fertility treatments abroad and wish to know more about fertility treatments in Cyprus, we invite you to get in touch with us for more details. We are working with some of the most recognized fertility clinics in Cyprus. Feel free to reach out to us with all your questions concerning the treatment process and other treatment prices.