If you’re asking you’re already beginning to be concerned. In general, peak fertility for women is in the 18-30 age range, and fertility decreases in your 30’s and 40’s. All women are different – there is no age where everyone can get pregnant or no-one can get pregnant; having said that pregnancy is much less common at 45 years and older. On average, your fertility goes down every year from age 40 to 45.
I would start to be more seriously concerned as you get closer to the 38-40 age range, but if you have a fertility issue at 38 it would be better to find out sooner rather than later. There is a lot of individual variation in ovarian reserve or egg supply (the number and quality of eggs that a woman has left) at any age, so there are 35 year olds with good egg supply and 35 year olds with diminished ovarian reserve.
If you’re aware of your fertility but don’t want a baby yet it wouldn’t be unreasonable to do some basic tests to get an idea of how healthy your ovaries look at 35. These would be an ultrasound scan of your ovaries, looking at the size of each ovary and the number of egg-containing follicles on each side or Antral Follicle Count, and blood tests on Day 2 or 3 of your cycle for estradiol, Follicle Stimulating Hormone or FSH, and Antimullerian Hormone or AMH. Day 1 is the first day of your period. If you’re on hormonal birth control such as pills, NuvaRing, Mirena or Implanon we would skip the estradiol and FSH tests. A fertility clinic (Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility or REI practice) can perform these tests and interpret the results.
If the results look good you can relax and wait a couple of years longer before trying. If there’s a problem with low ovarian reserve, options include freezing your eggs if you’re single or not in a long-term relationship, or freezing embryos for later use if you have a partner or wish to use donor sperm but aren’t ready to get pregnant now. You could also decide to pursue fertility treatment sooner based on the results.
