Manisha Mehta: Planning a Pregnancy in 40s?

Manisha Mehta, IVF Specialist at Apex Hospital, shared on LinkedIn:

”Planning a pregnancy in 40s?

Research and clinical experience show that female fertility is generally strongest from the mid-20s to early 30s.

Fertility gradually declines with age, with a more noticeable decline after 37.

However, pregnancy planning should also consider:

• Overall health
• Ovarian reserve
• Male fertility
• Existing health conditions
• Emotional and financial readiness

The takeaway? Understand your fertility early and make decisions based on your individual situation, rather than relying on age alone. Dr. Manisha Mehta explores the science behind age, fertility, and pregnancy planning in her latest blog.

Best Age to Plan Pregnancy: What Science Says?

Biology points to the mid-twenties to early thirties as the strongest window, when egg quality is high, and pregnancy risks sit at their lowest. Fertility dips slowly after 32, then sharply past 37. But the best age isn’t purely biological; it weighs health, stability, and readiness too. Science just says the earlier end carries better odds, which is worth knowing before deciding.

According to Dr. Manisha Mehta, IVF Doctor in India, ‘There’s no single perfect age to have a baby, but biology clearly favours the late twenties to early thirties, so the goal is balancing that window against a couple’s real readiness rather than ignoring it.’

What does science say about age and fertility?

The curve is fairly predictable, even if every woman sits at a slightly different spot on it.

• Peak years. From the mid-twenties to around 30, egg quality runs high, miscarriage risk stays low, and the monthly odds of conceiving naturally are simply at their best, with no real downside to this stretch.
• The gradual dip. Things start sliding after 32, quietly at first, which is why plenty of women still conceive fine in their early thirties yet notice it taking longer than friends who tried younger.
• The sharper drop. Past 37, the slide picks up speed, chromosomal errors climb, and both natural and assisted conception get tougher, so this is where waiting costs the most.
• Men age too. Male fertility lasts longer but isn’t frozen in time, with sperm quality and DNA slipping from the forties, so it’s the couple’s combined age that counts, not just hers.

So it’s a slope, not a cliff, which is why early talk around IVF treatment and planning helps a couple read their own position instead of guessing at it.

How should couples weigh age against readiness?

The right age blends the biology with everything else that makes a couple ready, so it’s rarely just a number.

• Health over age alone. A healthy 34-year-old can out-do an unwell 28-year-old, so weight, overall health, and conditions like PCOS or thyroid matter every bit as much as the calendar does.
• Know your reserve. A quick AMH test and a scan show where a woman actually stands, since reserve swings widely between individuals and age on its own never tells the whole story.
• Plan, don’t panic. Couples who want to wait can still wait smartly, through earlier testing or preserving options, so the decision to delay stays a choice rather than an accident.
• Both partners count. Readiness is financial and emotional too, and a steady, supported couple in their early thirties often sits in a stronger spot than a rushed younger one.

The honest message is that the best age balances biology with life, the same realistic planning behind understanding the whole IVF journey in India, where timing and readiness shape the path together.”

Stay informed with the latest updates in fertility and reproductive medicine on Fertility News.