ABSTRACT

The issues of age and declining fertility rates have been well studied in general populations showing a decline at age 35 with a marked further decrease at age 40.1 The age of the woman has an inverse relationship to and is the primary determining factor in the successful outcome of fertility treatment. This decrease in female fecundity with age takes a marked down turn at about age 37 to 38, coincident with an accelerated loss of oocytes, and reaches almost zero by 45 years.2