The Fertility Center of Las Vegas

Time to try – TTC in your 30s

If you’re in your 30s and think it’s time to start a family, now’s the time to start trying to conceive (TTC). By this stage of life, many women are confident that they can handle the demands of parenthood and feel established in their relationships and careers.

If you’re TTC in your 30s, our Las Vegas fertility specialists believe there are some facts you need to know about your chances for success.

The 20s are considered a woman’s peak fertile years, but these days, more women are delaying motherhood into their 30s and beyond. However, fertility typically begins to decline in the late-20s or early-30s, and once you hit age 35, it suddenly becomes significantly more difficult to become pregnant without medical intervention.

A healthy, fertile woman who is 30 years old has about a 20% chance of achieving a pregnancy each month that she and her partner try. By the time that same woman hits age 40, her chance of conceiving naturally is just 5% or less per month. For some women, ovarian reserve begins to diminish even earlier, making it harder to achieve a pregnancy even at a relatively young age.

Even if you’re very healthy and fit in your 30s, your egg quantity and quality are naturally declining as you move closer to menopause, which typically happens around age 51. This is a natural process that can’t be improved with diet, exercise or any type of medical treatment. Most women begin to notice their cycles growing shorter during their late-30s or early-40s, followed by some skipped periods that become more frequent. These are the early signs that menopause is near.

If you’re noticing these changes and are TTC in your 30s, you should see a fertility specialist right away. You should also seek help from our Las Vegas fertility specialists if you’ve had common conditions such as sexual dysfunction, prior pelvic surgery or disease, or any other obvious medical problems that could affect your ability to conceive.

Chromosomal abnormalities in embryos are often age-related, increasing your miscarriage risk as well as the risk of having a baby with a genetic condition. If you’re TTC in your 30s, your risk of miscarriage is higher than the risk for younger women, and it continues to rise over time. At age 30, the risk of having a baby with a genetic abnormality is 1 in 270, and that risk rises to 1 in 80 by age 35, and 1 in 60 by age 40.

Testing and treatment when you’re TTC in your 30s

If you’re in your mid to late-30s and you’ve been TTC on your own for six months, don’t wait to get help. Our Las Vegas fertility specialists can perform a comprehensive fertility evaluation to assess your ovarian reserve, find out if you’re ovulating, or identify any blockages or structural issues that could prevent pregnancy. We will also order fertility testing for your male partner to determine whether there are enough normal sperm present to achieve fertilization, as a male factor contributes to couples’ infertility in about two out of three cases.

In addition to age-related diminished ovarian reserve and male factors, infertility in your 30s can also have several other causes.

  • Blocked Fallopian tubes
  • Uterine or other structural abnormalities
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
  • Unexplained infertility

Prompt fertility testing allows you to get targeted fertility treatment before your fertility declines even further, giving you the best chance of having a baby. Depending on your diagnosis, your fertility specialist will create a treatment plan designed to help you get pregnant as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

Don’t wait to get help

If you’re TTC in your 30s and thinking about delaying having a baby for a few more years, see one of our reproductive endocrinologists right away for testing and information about egg freezing for fertility preservation.

To learn more about TTC in your 30s, contact us to schedule an appointment with one of our Las Vegas fertility specialists.