Lots of women take pride in how physically fit they are , and they spend a lot of time in the gym and work out on a regular basis, which means not only is their stamina excellent, but their fitness is great too. They are in much better physical shape than their mothers, and this is why it’s become very popular to say that the 40s have become the new 30s. But the fact of the matter is that no matter how physically fit you may be, your ovaries couldn’t care less, because they run on their own biological clock. And this ovarian clock has nothing to do with the way the rest of your body ages, which means even if your muscles are toned and you may be able to run a marathon, this doesn’t mean that your ovaries are going to age any slower just because you’re physically fit.
Most women don’t understand this, partly because they don’t understand the biological basis behind ovarian aging , and partly because they’re so focused on what they can see – their sculpted bodies and tones muscles – that they fail to appreciate what’s happening inside their bodies. This is why when they try to have a baby when they’re 40, they find that they’re not able to get pregnant. And then , when they go to an honest IVF specialist who tells them – Look, I’m sorry, but your poor antral follicle count and low AMH levels confirm that your ovaries have run out of eggs, and we can’t get you pregnant using your own eggs because of your poor ovarian reserve. You will need to use donor eggs if you want to have a baby. This comes as a rude shock, because they were sleeping during biology class , and no one taught them this uncomfortable fact of life.
Also, the fact that they continue getting regular periods , even up to the age of 50, lulls them into a false sense of security . They naively believe that if they have regular periods and their menstrual cycles are clockwork, this means their reproductive system is working well, and because their hormones are in the right balance, their eggs will be of good quality as well. But this is a myth ! Getting regular periods just means that your ovaries produce the right amounts of estrogen and progesterone on a cyclical basis, which is great. But it doesn’t mean that the quality of eggs your ovaries produce is good enough for them to get fertilized and become a baby.
This is because the ovaries have two completely different compartments. The one which produces the female hormones is fairly hardy and resilient and will continue functioning until you become menopausal – when you’ve run out of all your eggs. But 10 years before the menopause, women enter a phase which is called the oopause or poor ovarian reserve or diminished ovarian reserve, which means their egg quality is enough to produce enough hormones to get regular periods, but not enough to make a baby. Now, this can manifest itself in multiple different ways. Thus, many older women will get pregnant, but will miscarry in the first trimester . This miscarriage occurs because their eggs aren’t of good quality. As they become older , their eggs accumulate more genetic abnormalities, as a result of which the embryo is genetically abnormal, and this is nature’s defense mechanism to prevent the birth of an abnormal baby.
This is because women don’t produce any new eggs after birth. This means that all the eggs you are going to have in your lifetime are whatever eggs you were born with, which means your ovarian reserve is finite and limited . And these eggs are going to get progressively depleted over time, irrespective of how physically fit you are, how good your diet is, or how healthy you are, every time you get a menstrual cycle.
This is just one of those uncomfortable facts of life you need to learn about, and the sooner you learn about this, the better, because you will understand what is in your control and equally what is not in your control, so that you don’t beat up on yourself afterwards.
And if you are young and do want to postpone childbearing, then you might want to consider exploring the option of checking your ovarian reserve every time you celebrate a birthday , by checking your antral follicle count and your AMH blood levels. You can also consider freezing your eggs when you’re young ( and have a lot of eggs) , because this allows you to create additional reproductive options for yourself. You can use these frozen eggs if you need to , when you decide to have a baby !
This option will ensure you don’t regret losing the chance of becoming a mom simply because no one taught you about the fact that ovaries age at their own rate, and this has nothing to do with the way the rest of your body ages.
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