ISLAMABAD- Just as getting pregnant at a very young age is considered riskyfor both the mother and the child, so is planning a pregnancy at anadvanced age (above 35 years) as it can lead to health complications.

The biological clock is real and postponing parenthood to your 40s, saydoctors, can cause serious health problems.

“Women are delivering healthy babies throughout their 30s and beyond. Theage of 35 is simply an age that certain risks become more worthy ofdiscussion,” says Dr Ritu Sethi, consultant, Obstetrics & Gynecology,Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurugram. “The biggest drawback of getting pregnantin your late 40s is it’s harder to get pregnant. Eggs supply decreasessignificantly with your age, and older eggs are more likely to havechromosomal problems, raising the risk of miscarriage and birth defects.40-year-old women treated for infertility had a 25% chance of gettingpregnant using their own eggs,” says Sethi.

Another option is to freeze your eggs. These eggs are frozen at a young ageand can be thawed (defrozen) at a later age when the woman wants to plan apregnancy, so that the effects of age do not come into play. But theflipside is that the treatment is quite costly and the patient can conceiveonly through IVF, which has low success rates.

Women are more likely to develop high BP problems and diabetes duringpregnancy in their 40s. “Women older than 40 are more likely to deliver alow-birth-weight or preterm baby,” says Sethi. “At 40, the chance ofconceiving within a year is about 40 to 50%, compared with a woman in hermid-30s, who has a 75% chance. By 43, a woman’s chance of pregnancyplummets to 1 or 2%,” she says.

Women are now opting for fertility treatments as chances for naturalconception also decrease dramatically with age. Thus, couples resort tofertility treatments meant for both men and women. This initiative hasproven to be fruitful, but this process is more cumbersome and complicatedthan the natural way of reproduction, with possibilities of unsatisfactoryoutcomes.

“Another option is to freeze your eggs. These eggs are frozen at a youngage (so that ageing process is limited) and can be thawed (defrozen) at alater age when the woman wants to plan pregnancy, so that the effects ofage do not come into play. But the flipside is that the treatment is quitecostly and the patient can conceive only through in vitro fertilization(IVF), which again has low success rates,” says Dr Pooja Mehta, seniorconsultant, obstetrics and gynecology, Paras Hospitals, Gurugram.

The onus of having a child does not depend solely on women. With a boomingpopulation and a serious hike in expenses in the coming decades, it hasbecome challenging to provide for a child in a big city, let alone havefive or six children.

Ultimately, the right to give birth or to postpone a pregnancy or to nothave children is entirely an individual’s choice. But for those who do wantexperience parenthood, however delayed, it is advisable to start thinkingabout it in your late 20s and plan your baby in the early 30s.