After menopause is it possible to become pregnant

Another oft-asked question concerns the preparation of the endometrium to receive embryos. Fortunately the uterus is not very discriminating. And with donor egg pregnancies, just as with those that arise naturally, the placental pharmacy begins to function in the latter third of the first trimester and all hormone medications can then be stopped.

For patients the hardest part about donor IVF is deciding whether it is right for them. Once a couple has decided to go ahead they most often proceed with great excitement and anticipation.

Nobody has ever reported an out-of-body experience carrying a pregnancy derived from donor eggs! If a woman is healthy, of normal weight, and does not smoke pregnancy after menopause is a popular option for family building. These are important questions that should be discussed at length between prospective donor egg recipients and their physicians. For the most part, however, recently menopausal women in their late 40s and early 50 are excellent candidates for donor egg IVF.

The years before menopause are called perimenopause. The transition usually starts when a person is in their 40s and lasts between 7 and 14 years , but this varies widely. For most people, estrogen levels begin to fall gradually when they are in their 40s.

A person will continue to ovulate and menstruate, but periods may become irregular or less frequent. For some people, periods may stop for several months but then reappear. The reason for this is that ovulation can continue, even though periods do not occur.

As the transition progresses, a fall both in sex hormones and in the number and quality of eggs will reduce the chances of the person becoming pregnant. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, fertility usually ends 5—10 years before menopause.

However, this is not always the case. For some people, pregnancy is still possible until menopause happens. At birth, a female has about 1 million follicles in the ovaries that can become eggs. By puberty, they have close to , During their reproductive years, they will release approximately of these. The other follicles become lost through degeneration. At the age of 25 years, statistics show that 4. Researchers based these figures on data from more than 58, women. This increase in infertility occurs because the quality of eggs and the chance of a healthy pregnancy decline with age.

Nevertheless, it may still be possible to conceive, as long as ovulation continues. If the ovaries produce a viable egg and it becomes fertilized, conception can take place. There are several reasons why a person might wish to become pregnant during perimenopause.

These may include:. Once menopause occurs, ovulation will no longer take place, and it will not be possible to conceive naturally. People who have surgery to remove the uterus or both ovaries will experience menopause directly.

They will not go through perimenopause. Find out more here about surgical menopause and how it affects a person. Anyone who is hoping to conceive during perimenopause should discuss their options with a doctor. While fertility is likely to be reduced, there are ways of increasing the chances of getting pregnant. Breast tenderness and white vaginal discharge are among the natural signs that can help a person identify the best time to try to conceive.

Alternatively, they can use ovulation test strips. While most want to get pregnant, some of these women just wanted to stop the symptoms of menopause, which can include hot flushes, night sweats and thinning hair. Those wanting to get pregnant then went back to their home countries to try IVF.

WS, is a year-old from Germany. She had been trying to get pregnant to have a second child for more than six years, and had experienced six unsuccessful IVF attempts. The stimulation hormones prompted her to release three eggs, and the highest quality egg was fertilised.

An embryo was implanted in her uterus and she is now six months pregnant. The other woman, a year-old from the Netherlands, had previously not had a period for four years, and had been showing other signs of menopause.

Because she wanted to start a family, she went to Greece to receive treatment in December A month later, she began menstruating again, says Sfakianoudis. Within a few months of treatment, the woman underwent a form of IVF treatment in the Netherlands. Instead, doctors collect the one egg that is released during ovulation, fertilise it outside of the body, and later reimplant the embryo.

The woman successfully became pregnant, but unfortunately miscarried last week, a few months into her pregnancy. Women between the ages of 35 and 39 are thought to have a one in five chance of miscarriage during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. He hopes that the woman will try again.

Doctors say the results so far are promising, but that rigorous trials are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.