A GUIDE TO FERTILITY
When should you start trying to get pregnant?
Many women who want children want to know the age they should start trying for pregnancy to have a good chance of having the number of children they want.
Habbema, J. D. F., Eijkemans, M. J. C., Leridon, H., & te Velde, E. R. (2015). Realizing a desired family size: when should couples start? Human Reproduction, 30, 2215-2221. By permission of Oxford University Press.
Graphic 4 shows a chart of the age a woman would need to start trying to get pregnant to have the number of children she wanted. To use the chart you need to know:
1. The size of family you would like (e.g. 1, 2, or 3 children)
2. Whether you would be willing to use fertility treatments (e.g. IVF) if you or your partner could not become pregnant naturally
3. Your desired certainty that you will achieve the family size you want (e.g. 50%, 75%, or 90% certainty)
Example 1 (green numbers) If a woman wanted to be 90% certain that she would have at least 3 children without ever using fertility treatment, then she would need to start trying for a family at 23 years of age.
Example 2 (blue numbers) If a woman was willing to use fertility treatment and have 50% certainty of having 3 children then she can start trying for pregnancy at the age of 36 years.
Women (and their partners) can use this chart to decide when to start trying to get pregnant. If you know you have fertility problems that can be overcome with fertility treatment then look at the ages with fertility treatment (with IVF).
