One of the most important factors when it comes to fertility, especially for women, is age. The fact of the matter is, while a man’s fertility is bound to decline as he gets older as well, there is not a well-defined point for men where they can no longer conceive a child. With women, menopause is that defining point. Up until menopause, however, a woman’s fertility will steadily decline.

A woman is going to be the most fertile in her twenties. Studies suggest that one around one in ten women that are in their twenties will have fertility issues. As women get older, fertility issues start to be more prominent. Around one in four of all women in their thirties have fertility issues. This number jumps drastically in the next decade. It is estimated that half of women who are over forty will have fertility issues.

Age creates some fertility issues in a couple of ways. First, a woman has a limited supply of eggs, known as her “ovarian reserve.” Over the span of her life, there are fewer and fewer eggs that are good candidates for fertilization left. In addition, age can affect a woman’s ovulatory cycle. For example, it can cause a woman to have fertility issues because of a condition like luteal phase defect, which makes it difficult for a fertilized egg to implant in the womb.

The way that your health care provider will approach fertility treatments will also be determined by your age. If your health care provider believes that age is causing you fertility issues, it may determine whether your health care provider recommends using your own eggs or donor eggs for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for example.

Outside of the medial field, there are products available that may help with fertility issues due to age. There are a variety of herbal, homeopathic, and natural supplements and remedies that many women have used in order to delay their issues with fertility due to age.