How successful is IVF for older women?
While in vitro fertilisation (IVF) can potentially help many women conceive, much like unassisted conception it is far less successful as women get older. The live birth rate for women under 35 undergoing IVF is 31%, but the success rate is less than 5% for women over 42. This is because the quality of the eggs harvested in assisted techniques such as IVF deteriorates with age. These techniques stimulate the release of more egg cells but cannot compensate for the effects of reproductive ageing on egg quality. While newer preservation techniques are designed to freeze eggs from younger women and allow postponed pregnancy at a later age, there is currently little evidence to support their use.
