Three quarters of women delay motherhood because of cost
- EXCLUSIVE: More than half of women said their career influenced their plans
- Over four out of ten respondents said housing is or has been a baby obstacle
- More than half believe that the ages of 25 to 30 are the ideal to have a family
- IVF is also influenced by age, with just 2% of women over 44 having success
- Experts warn that women’s chances of motherhood decline sharply after 35
- Women’s health expert, Dr Catherine Hood, said: ‘Women are learning the hard way that they cannot have it all’
Claudia Tanner For Mailonline
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Financial pressures are forcing women to delay motherhood, increasing their chances of leaving it too late to try for a baby, according to new research.
More than half (56 per cent) of those surveyed believe the ideal time to start a family is between the ages of 25 and 30.
Yet, three out of four said they will not embark on parenthood until they are in their thirties.
The biggest barriers to motherhood are economic, with 75 per cent of those surveyed blaming their financial position. This was a bigger obstacle than being unable to find the right partner, which is a problem for 59 per cent of respondents.
Just over half (51 per cent) said their motherhood plans will or have been influenced by their career, while 44 per cent said housing is or has been an obstacle.
Many women wait until they are older to have children, but experts warn this may be a gamble
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FERTILITY AND AGE
Both sexes are at their most fertile in their early twenties.
In women, fertility declines more quickly with age.
This becomes rapid after the age of 35 due to the decline in the quality of the eggs released by the ovaries.
Around one-third of couples where the woman is older than 35 have fertility problems.
This rises to two-thirds when the woman is over 40.
Women over 35 are also less likely to become pregnant as a result of fertility treatments, including IVF, and are more likely to have a miscarriage if they do become pregnant.
Men’s fertility gradually declines from around the age of 40, but most men are able to father children into their 50s and beyond.
Source: NHS Choices
Women’s health expert, Dr Catherine Hood, said: ‘Women are learning the hard way that they cannot have it all.
‘When you are juggling the competing demands of finances, career, the demands of a loving relationship and your fertility, it’s almost inevitable that something gets dropped.
‘The truth is, fertility is often out of our control, and no amount of planning and preparation can detract from the fact that women’s fertility begins to fall away sharply after 35.
‘Sadly, by the time they feel they are in a good position to become a parent, many women discover that nature may need a helping hand.’
Results of the survey, conducted by the home conception device The Stork who questioned 300 women, also found that three out of four are considering IVF as an option.
Yet, IVF’s success also depends on the woman’s age.
In 2010, 32 per cent of women aged under 35 had a live birth following their IVF treatment.
This dropped to just 28 per cent for women aged 35 to 37, 21 per cent for 38 to 39 year olds and 14 per cent for women aged 40 to 42.
The success rate was only 5 per cent for women aged 43 to 44 and 2 per cent for women aged over 44.
Decisions about who can have NHS-funded IVF in England is made by local Clinical Commissioning Groups, yet just two out of 209 grant the recommended three treatments
NICE recommends the NHS provides up to three cycles of fertility treatment to women younger than 43 who have been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant for two years.
Yet, these guidelines are not mandatory.
Many cash-strapped Clinical Commissioning Groups are refusing to provide the treatment, leading many wannabe parents to seek private therapy.
Just two out of 209 Clinical Care Groups in England grant the three full cycles of IVF.
Costs vary, but one cycle of private IVF treatment may cost more than £5,000.
The survey also revealed the enormous psychological impact of fertility issues, with 86 per cent of women admitting to feeling some degree of emotional fallout.
Most said they felt upset that other women could conceive without difficulty (64 per cent) and more than half (52 per cent) admitted they felt a failure, or less womanly, because they had been unable to conceive.
Almost half (48 per cent) felt isolated around family and friends with babies and 47 per cent felt that the pressure to conceive was removing the pleasure from sex.
This comes after an Israeli study revealed babies conceived through IVF have triple the risk of developing cancer in their early years.
Researchers monitored more than 200,000 babies born between 1991 and 2013, with a follow-up to the age of 18.
AN ALTERNATIVE TO IVF
The Stork conception device is designed to help you become pregnant at home
The Stork uses intracervical insemination to boost the chances of a women becoming pregnant.
It works by first collecting semen into a cervical cap, which is located at the bottom of a condom-like sheath worn by the man during intercourse.
Then an applicator delivers the cap containing the semen to the entrance of the cervix which is left there for between four and six hours.
Experts say this allows the sperm to swim upwards to fertilise the woman’s egg.
While in place, women can go about their usual day-to-day activities before removing it in the same way they would dispose of a tampon.
It is recommended that The Stork be used just before and/or during ovulation.
The success rate of the over-the-counter device, which costs £100, is around 20 per cent, making it almost as effective as IVF, which costs around £5,000.
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