 [ Symptoms ] with all the advances in fertility treatments how old is too old for a woman to try to get pregnant [ Disease ] all women see a decline in their fertility beginning around age 35 making it far more difficult    but not impossible    to conceive naturally the risk of birth defects including down syndrome increases as a woman ages as does the risk of an ectopic pregnancy which can be life threatening treatments such as in vitro fertilization have made it possible to conceive well into the mid 40s for many doctors however the cutoff point is around age 45 a time when many believe a woman is eggs are no longer healthy enough for a normal conception    although normal pregnancies can and do occur at this age with the inception of donor eggs a woman could actually carry a child and give birth well into her 60s and beyond depending on her individual health status although this is possible it is not necessarily a recommended or accepted practice