A Guide for Patients Fertility changes with age. Both males and
females become fertile in their teens following puberty. For
girls, the beginning of their reproductive years is marked by
the onset of ovulation and menstruation. It is commonly
understood that after menopause women are no longer able to
become pregnant. Generally, reproductive potential decreases as
women get older, and fertility can be expected to end 5 to 10
years before menopause. In today’s society, age-related
infertility is becoming more common because, for a variety of
reasons, many women wait until their 30s to begin their
families. Even though women today are healthier and taking
better care of themselves than ever before, improved health in
later life does not offset the natural age-related decline in
fertility. It is important to understand that fertility declines
as a woman ages due to the normal age-related decrease in the
number of eggs that remain in her ovaries. This decline may take
place much sooner than most women expect. OVU