IVF & Older Mothers: How We Can Help You Have a Baby in Your Mid-40s & Above

6th October 2016 in Treatments

This information was correct at the time of publishing. It may not reflect our current practices, prices or regulations.

It’s well known that many women have fertility treatment in their late 30s and early 40s to have a baby. But what are the options for the older woman, mid-40s and beyond? Can a woman in this age group still get pregnant using her own eggs? And what are the real chances of IVF success?

At Manchester Fertility we offer IVF treatment to women up to the age of 50 and specialise in helping older women to become mothers. Here’s what you need to know if you’re an older woman in this age group and wish to have a baby:

IVF: Own eggs vs donor eggs

If you’re in the 44 and upwards age range, we don’t recommend attempting IVF with your own eggs. Although some women are still able to conceive naturally at this age, it’s a rare occurrence and success rates for IVF over the age of 44 using own eggs is generally very poor. We would always strongly advise the use of donor eggs, to give you the best chance of a baby. 

Our donor eggs IVF success rates are amongst the best in the UK, with over 33% of women aged 43 and above achieving pregnancy using donor eggs in 2015.

When you come to us for treatment, you don’t need to worry about finding an egg donor. We can offer you immediate treatment using donor eggs, from UK-based, healthy fertile women aged 18-35 who donate exclusively to us through our Manchester Donors egg donation programme

IVF: Partner or donor sperm?

If your partner is also older, it’s important we analyse his sperm to ensure there are no issues that could affect your chances of IVF success. A man’s fertility also declines as he ages, with sperm quality affected the older he gets. 

Our thorough sperm analysis testing examines sperm count, mobility and shape, we can also offer the new SpermComet DNA Damage test that analyses the amount of DNA damage in each individual sperm. 

The sperm analysis test results will indicate whether your partner’s sperm can be used in treatment. If he’s not producing sperm anymore, due to previous vasectomy, our male fertility specialists can help through vasectomy reversal or advanced specialist techniques such as Surgical Sperm Retrieval

Or you may be advised to consider using donor sperm instead of your partner’s, which again we can offer with no waiting list thanks to our Semovo sperm donation programme. 

IVF: Single older woman

If you’re a single older woman in your mid 40s and want to have a baby, you can opt to use both donor eggs and donor sperm

Funding IVF with Donor Eggs: Get a Refund if you don’t have a baby

If you’re worried about the financial risk of IVF as an older woman, we can help.

We offer the Access Fertility IVF with Donor Eggs Refund Plan

Available to women aged up to 48, it’s a pre-paid plan that includes multiple cycles of treatment using eggs from your choice of donor at a discounted fixed cost, with up to 70% of plan fees refunded if you don’t have a baby when all included cycles and embryo transfers are completed. 

If you need to use donor sperm as well, you have the option to pay the additional costs to use sperm from our donors in your included cycles. 

Dedicated Donation Team support

Our Donation Team provides dedicated support to all our patients who use donated eggs, embryos or sperm. They will match you to potential donors, using their unique personal insight into who our donors are, working alongside our entire clinic team to ensure every stage of your treatment is seamless and stress-free. 

IVF Counselling for older mums

Counselling is available to all patients to help support you through your IVF journey, but it’s a mandatory part of treatment if you’re using donated eggs, sperm or embryos. This is so we can ensure you understand all the implications of using a donor to have a baby.

Our experienced counselling team will talk you through all the factors you need to consider, including how to tell your child they were donor-conceived, your rights, the rights of your child and those of your chosen donor. 

Start your journey to a baby

If you’d like our help to have a baby, apply for treatment here or call our Patient Advisors on 0161 300 2737.

 

 

Last updated: 20th January 2020