Pregnancy Later in Life

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/27/late.pregnancy.risks/index.html?iref=allsearch

Actress Kelly Preston announced this month that she is pregnant at the age of 47, prompting discussions about the modern medicine that allowed her and husband John Travolta to have a baby so late in life.

Women are having babies even later than 47. Doctors say that these days it is not difficult to get pregnant in your late 40s, early 50s - as long as you have two things - someone else's eggs, and at least $16,000. Dr. Kreiner, a reproductive endocrinologist in New York, said that with the help of donor eggs, "theoretically, one would think theres no age limit, but it hasn't been tested."

Though pregnancy later in life is possible with assistance, doctors say that chances of getting pregnant naturally for someone over the age of 45 are slim to none. Chances of conceiving naturally at that age are less than 5 percent each month, and the miscarriage rate in the first trimester is 70 to 80 percent.

IVF using the patient's own eggs is also unlikely to work at that age. Using IVF and donor eggs has a much higher success rate - 70-75% for a woman in her mid to late 40s. This is an expensive option, but you can cut costs by using frozen instead of fresh eggs, or use the same egg donor as another woman.

Now that women have the option to have a baby later in life, the question comes up - is this a good idea? There are more health risks involved for the mother and baby. There is also the fact that being a parent later in life may limit the things you can do with your child, and the amount of energy you will have.