Planning A Family? Don’t Put It Off!

Trying for your first baby while you’re younger gives you a better chance of completing your family. Delaying having children increases your risk of missing out on becoming a mother or father or having your ideal sized family. This article provides fertility insights from Dr. Arasu Muthusamy Medical Director at Fertility Associates Malaysia, Petaling Jaya.

Generally, we plan for major goals or milestones in our lives such as our career pathway or travel but we often take having children, one of the biggest milestones in our life, for granted thinking that it “will just happen one day”. In reality there is only a small window of opportunity to have children and as we age the window becomes shorter and shorter and eventually we hit menopause, usually at 50 years of age.

Leaving trying for a baby till later in life is one of the main causes for fertility issues. 1 in 6 Malaysian couples find themselves struggling with infertility and subsequently their journey to having a baby is not so easy.

Why does the chance of having a baby drop with age?

Women are born with about 1 – 2 million follicles (eggs) in the ovaries. With age, the number and quality of eggs drop dramatically. At 25, a woman has a 25% chance of getting pregnant in any one month of actively trying, however, by 35 years the chance has dropped to 16%. Each year after 35 the chance drops even more dramatically leaving those trying at 40 with just a 6% chance. Every year in your thirties counts!

How many children do you want in your family?

A good first step to get proactive about building your family is to think and discuss with your partner how many children you want to have and when you would want to have each child. Having your first baby doesn’t guarantee your chance of a second baby or stop your biological clock from ticking. Age continues to play a major factor when trying for your second or third child.

The chances of having the number of children you want

Not only should couples consider the number of children they want, but also the estimated chance of conception at various ages, especially for the last child.1 For example, it has been shown that for a 90% certainty of having three children, couples would need to start trying when the women is 23 years old! The older you are when you start for your first child the less chance you have of completing your desired family size. If you want to know what your chance of having a baby is for your age and time spent trying, check out www.biologicalclock.com.my

Check that your fertility health is optimal

The chance of conception can be affected by a number of factors from both men and women. Fertility screening is a simple way to test that your fertility health is optimal for when you want to try and conceive.

Tests for Women:

Fertility screening tests help predict if a woman may have a faster biological clock and therefore will lose her fertility sooner than expected. The tests available for women estimate what is called an ‘ovarian reserve’ by measuring the number of egg follicles developing at a particular time. Testing of the ovarian reserve involves doing a blood test for Follicular Stimulating Hormones (FSH) and Estradiol (E2) between day two and day four of the cycle, a pelvic ultrasound and/or performing a blood test for Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) which can be done anytime of the month.

Tests for Men:

The first step is a semen analysis to look at the number of sperm, their shape and their ability to move. Another useful test, often combined with a semen analysis is a test for sperm antibodies which can reduce the sperm’s ability to get through the cervical mucus to eventually reach the egg for fertilisation.

Even if you are not trying for a baby now, it is never too early to find out your fertility health by proactively undergoing fertility screening. Fertility screening will highlight if there are any specific issues for individuals and couples. Many couples are unaware of the factors influencing their fertility and often only consult a fertility doctor as a last resort after trying to conceive for a number of years and all other avenues have been exhausted. The sooner you undergo fertility screening and see a fertility specialist, the better your chances of success.