Women who delay motherhood could be damaging the fertility of
any daughters they go on to have, scientists said yesterday. A
study found the age at which the mothers of a group of women
undergoing IVF gave birth had an impact on the whether their
treatment resulted in pregnancies. Scientists warned the
fertility rates of future generations could be hit by the
increasing number of women waiting until their thirties before
having their first baby. Dr Zsolt Peter Nagy, of Reproductive
Biology Associates in Atlanta, US, speculated that the decline
in quality of a woman's eggs caused by ageing could be passed on
and imprinted into the reproductive cells that eventually become
her daughter's eggs. Dr Nagy said: "Maternal age is important
not only for the chances of the person herself getting pregnant
but also to a certain extent the chances for her daughters.
"This study involved women having fertility treatment, but it's
probably the same for the general population. It is frightening.
If you think about our parent