The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that gender accounts for 45–50% of cases of infertility, with environmental variables accounting for the remaining 10 percent.
Age is a major factor in maintaining fertility, especially for women, according to fertility specialists worldwide. Dr. Joseph Homiah of the Accra Fertility Centre wholeheartedly agrees with.
He discussed the relevant concerns of women’s fertility and the age factor at the 2024 Fertility Conference of Xoese Ghana, an NGO that assists women in Ghana with fertility issues.
Dr. Homiah emphasised that age is a critical factor, particularly for women who wish to become mothers. He pointed out that a woman’s egg level and fertility level decrease with age, and that this is how nature—or the creator—designed it to be
The fertility specialist, who has been in business for more than ten years, stated that many of his female patients, who are now 38 or 40 years old, desire to become parents in a year.
According to him, a lot of women these days put off starting a family because they are pursuing other hobbies. Some of them put off becoming pregnant and having children because they are so focused on moving up the educational ladder.
“They want to have fun for two years and having children is not one of their priorities now and they do not want any disturbance of children,” he said of those who marry and postpone having children.
He regretted that this was not a healthy practice since, once a woman gets desperate to conceive, her stress level and impatience often worsen the issue, making conception slow, difficult, or even impossible.
While pursuing higher education is not inherently negative, Dr. Homiah cautioned that women in particular need to strike a good balance since while everyone can attend school at any time, not all women are able to have children when they are older.
In a practical sense, it would be best for these women to stop their study at a certain point in order to concentrate on having children, and then pick up where they left off.
Which age ranges from the most to the least fertile?
Adult females generally have a peak fertility period and a virtually zero fertility period due to the natural decline in ovarian reserve that occurs with aging.
He said the most fertile period of every woman is between the ages of 20 to 24.
Between 25-29 is fertile. Then, by age 35, a woman has about 50% of her eggs depleted leaving her with 52% chance.
By age 40 to 44, the egg level is very low as is the fertility chance at 15%.
Between ages 45-49, a woman has just less than 5% chance of conceiving because the egg level becomes virtually zero.
By age 50, the egg level becomes completely zero, as presented in the table below:
Modern science intervenes so that women are not left in a dismal situation when they desire to become mothers even after they have exhausted their ovarian reserve.
One method for assisting women with various fertility problems, such as decreased egg reserve, to become pregnant is in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
It is the most widely utilised aided method available, and it is also utilised for people who have problems with their fallopian tubes, such as tubal obstruction or no tubes at all because of specific medical illnesses.
It is advised that women who are thinking about IVF emotionally, mentally, and financially ready themselves.
Once more, the women should engage in moderate exercise and eat a healthy diet that limits their intake of soda, beef, chicken, and junk food.
