Here’s an interesting concept if you’re not ready to conceive yet. In an article at Stl.com, David Elan Simckes, M.D suggests that you create your “fertility profile.” He says, “Women only have a finite number of eggs and their numbers drop steadily from the time a girl is born. By age 30, 10 percent of women will meet the criteria of “Low Ovarian Reserve,” 25 percent by age 35. Sometime after age 35, there usually is a steep drop-off in conception rates. But our culture has changed and urging women to begin their family before age 30 is not only in contradiction to society’s expectations and modern women’s aspirations, it is just downright politically incorrect.
So what can you do if you are just not ready to start having kids? How do you know how loudly your biological clock is ticking? The answer is to complete a Fertility Profile assessment test.”
In the article he describes several important fertility tests that constitute what he calls the fertility profile. It includes the FSH, AMH and antral follicle count which can give one an idea of where they stand at a moment of time. The fallacy is that this is not terribly reassuring since these parameters may change in a short time. He also adds a semen analysis, which even if you have a partner, is important, it does not relate to your timeline. He also add a tubal dye test which is expersive and invasive and is best done when you are trying to conceive.
But the concept of thinking about your future fertility is a good one because if a red flag comes up or you are thinking of waiting a really long time to start a family, there are things you can do to preserve your fertility like egg freezing or embryo freezing if you have a long-term partner.
At the start of a new year, it’s something worth thinking about.