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'Women should freeze their eggs by 35'

Julie Griffiths
18 June, 2015
IVF eggs freeze

'Women should freeze their eggs by 35'

frozen-eggs_shutterstock.jpg

'Women should freeze their eggs by 35' 'Women should freeze their eggs by 35'

Women should look at freezing their eggs by the age of 35 and those over 44 should avoid using their own eggs in IVF treatment, claim researchers.

The age and quality of an egg is more important as a determinant of success in IVF than the age of the patient, according to the 12-year study.

Lead author of the study Dr Marta Devesa said that ideally women would have babies at a younger age as the chances of giving birth decreases significantly after the age of 38.  

‘But if you can’t change society then we should encourage them to freeze their eggs by 35,’ she said. ‘Indeed women of 44 or older should be fully informed about their real chances of a live birth and counselled in favour of oocyte (immature egg) donation.’

The study, carried out at the Hospital Universitaro Quiron-Dexeus in Barcelona, analysed 4195 women, who underwent 5841 IVF cycles, in four groups aged between 38 and 44.

Birth rates were shown to fall from 24% for those aged 38 and 39 to 15% for 40- and 41-year-olds, 6.6% for women aged 42 and 43 and just 1.3% for those 44 and above.

Presenting the study at the European Society of Human Reproduction’s annual conference in Lisbon, Dr Devesa said the decline in success rate was not evident in older patients having egg donation to treat their infertility.

The results, said Dr Devesa, provide a real-world model for predicting the chance of success in older patients.

Women aged 44 and over should be advised against doing IVF with their own eggs, as the chances of success are so slim. For the others under 44, age and the number of eggs retrieved provide the best guide to outcome.

According to the Spanish national registry system, 7000 cycles of egg donation were performed in Spain in 2012.
 

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