Chances of Getting Pregnant: What to Expect at 20, 30 and 40

The decision of when a couple decides to start a family is a deeply personal one, and a host of professional and personal factors go into your family’s ideal timetable. And even when a couple agrees that the time is right, there is no predicting how long the journey of trying to conceive might take.

As you weigh the pros and cons of starting a family, another consideration should be how the woman’s age affects her likelihood of getting pregnant. The chances of getting pregnant change with age, and to make an educated decision, you need to know about the chances of having a baby in your 20s, after age 30, and in your 40s.

Your Chances of Getting Pregnant are Best in Your 20s

Although many women are waiting longer than ever to try for a baby -- and often for excellent reasons -- reproductive science and the body’s tendencies have not changed. Experts say that the average woman’s fertility peaks at the age of 24, because younger women’s eggs are more viable and less likely to have abnormalities. The incidence of health issues like uterine fibroids and endometriosis are lower for women in their 20s, as is the risk of miscarriage.

But even though a decade is a long time, your chances of getting pregnant in your late 20s are not necessarily worse than for a woman in her early 20s. The difference in fertility from the beginning of the decade to the end is negligible, doctors say, so someone who is 28 or 29 is still at their optimal child-bearing age from a statistical perspective.

Getting Pregnant After Age 30

Plenty of couples wait until after their 30th birthday to start thinking about a family. When, they look around them, they may see many others who made a similar decision and had healthy babies, but there are some biological drawbacks to waiting, especially if you start trying to get pregnant at the age of 35.

Experts agree that the midpoint of that decade the decade of your 30s is the point where fertility rates typically drop precipitously, and they warn couples – especially those who want more than one baby – that the chances of getting pregnant are less as the 30s inch toward 40. Risks of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancies, and other complications also increase after the age of 35, and doctors often recommend more comprehensive screening for women who get pregnant past that age.

Your Chances of Having a Baby in Your 40s Are Reduced

Despite the compelling reasons many couples have to start baby-making after age 40, statistics show that such a delay can lessen the chances of a viable pregnancy. Later pregnancies are more common than they used to be, but even with that trend would-be parents must acknowledge the numbers.

Fewer than one percent of women between the ages of 40 and 44 get pregnant naturally, and the chances of a woman becoming pregnant during any single month after age 40 drop to five percent. None of those statistics means the quest is impossible, and most people know at least one woman in her 40s who has defied the odds. If a woman has not gone through menopause when the menstrual cycles stops, it is possible to become pregnant at age 50 or even beyond. Your chances of getting pregnant at 50 are slim, but as long as you are menstruating, it is still possible. However, the dramatically reduced possibilities cannot be ignored.

At Any Age, Help is Available for People Trying to Conceive

The good news for women in their 20s, 30s or 40s is this: if getting pregnant doesn’t happen easily, there are more medical advances and expertise to help you conceive than at any time in history. There are also simple yet effective solutions, like using Pre-Seed Fertility-Friendly personal lubricant when trying to conceive to improve your chances. Pre-Seed feels natural so it can help make planned sex more enjoyable, plus it is formulated to allow sperm to move freely. And those benefits may help you get pregnant.