I need a baby at 55

I recently remarried at 55 years of age. I want to have a baby for my new husband. Kindly advise me on what to do.

Louise (By SMS)

As long as a woman has not gone through menopause she is able to “conceive her own child” meaning use her own egg for the pregnancy. Certainly, women who are in good health bear children older than that, often using a donor egg from a younger woman. Having said this, there are a few things to consider about having a child at that age; the fertility rate of women this age is low, especially for non-reproductive assisted pregnancies.

For women who do get pregnant using their own egg, there is a high rate of congenital anomalies and Down’s syndrome. Pregnancy is hard on the body even for younger women. Perimenopausal women have more of their own health problems such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. Pregnancy can worsen these conditions. Even for very healthy 48-year-olds they still would have a very high chance of having these complications in pregnancy.

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