Getting pregnant at 45: is it possible or not?
Carmen Russo, Alessandra Martines, Monica Bellucci, Heather Parisi ... pregnancy after 45 seems almost a fashion today. Of course, the average age has risen a lot and with it the planning of the first pregnancy, also and above all for cultural and social issues.
Women's empowerment has led women to want to be economically independent and professionally satisfied before planning the arrival of a baby. However, female fertility is still limited in time and the longer you wait, the less chance you have of fulfilling your dream of motherhood. So how do these stars get pregnant?
Fertility at 45
"The first point to keep in mind", comments gynecologist Rossella Nappi, "is that these famous women very often resort to" egg donation, as their ovarian reserve is reduced and of poor quality "
In fact, spontaneous fertility begins to decrease a lot after the age of 35, it has another decline after the age of 39 and between 40 and 42 it decreases to 5% of what it would have been at 25: "Not only that: after 39 it increases significantly the risk of spontaneous abortion and chromosomal malformations ".
It is around the age of 42 that that period currently called fertipausa begins, in which the hormones still work but the follicles are often empty or with damaged oocytes.
It is essential to constantly monitor ovulation levels and basal temperature, in order to always know when the body is most predisposed to fertilization.
You can find on Amazon some ovulation monitoring kits and thermometers for controlling the basal temperature at affordable prices and in multipacks.
For all these reasons, at 45, natural pregnancies are exceptional events and the chances of carrying out the aforementioned pregnancies are extremely low.
See also
Watch the video on: fertility after 40
Pregnant at 45, how does the body respond?
Assuming that a pregnancy occurs at this age, the body is still able to handle it without problems but it is essential to lead a healthy lifestyle (do not smoke, be of normal weight, practice physical activity): "An overweight woman over 40 risks diabetes and hypertension ”, continues Nappi.
In fact, diabetes and "gestational hypertension are the two most common problems in cases of pregnancy in old age:" We must always remember that age is the first factor that puts pregnancy at risk: all these diseases also negatively impact the development of the fetus and on the growth of the child. For these reasons, pregnancies in old age are followed in a much more scrupulous way and there is a much higher percentage of caesarean sections ".
The moral limits
Last but not least, the moral question concerns late motherhoods: "I am a convinced layman and I do not think it is a moral question", adds the gynecologist, "but it is rather important to keep in mind the biological meaning of menopause: nature has built the woman so that she can reproduce to have healthy babies and have the time to care for them and make them grow.Designing it further and further changes the perspective, even if the average life span of women has lengthened ”.
Do not forget, however, the help to women who go through early menopause: "Which unfortunately are always on the rise", he concludes, "in this case it would be immoral not to help them to have a natural pregnancy or not".
