Advanced maternal age

For effects associated with father's age, see Paternal age effect.

Advanced maternal age, in a broad sense, is the instance of a woman being of an older age at a stage of reproduction, although there are various definitions of specific age and stage of reproduction.[1] The variability in definitions is in part explained by the effects of increasing age occurring as a continuum rather than as a threshold effect.[1]

Average age at first childbirth has been increasing, especially in OECD countries, among which the highest average age is 32.6 years (South Korea) followed by 32.1 years (Ireland and Spain).[2] In a number of European countries (Spain), the mean age of women at first childbirth has crossed the 30 year threshold.[3] This process is not restricted to Europe. Asia, Japan and the United States are all seeing average age at first birth on the rise, and increasingly the process is spreading to countries in the developing world such as China, Turkey and Iran. In the U.S., the average age of first childbirth was 26.9 in 2018.[4]

Advanced maternal age is associated with adverse reproductive effects including increased risk of infertility,[5] and chromosomal abnormalities in children.[6] The corresponding paternal age effect is less pronounced.[7][8]

  1. ^ a b Fretts, Ruth C. (3 December 2012). Wilkins-Haug, Louise; Barss, Vanessa A. (eds.). "Effect of advanced age on fertility and pregnancy in women". UpToDate. Archived from the original on 19 June 2016.
  2. ^ "¿A qué edad tienen las madres su primer hijo?" [At what age do mothers have their first child?]. El Orden Mundial (elordenmundial.com) (in Spanish). 12 August 2020.
  3. ^ Mean age of mothers at first childbirth (PDF). oecd.org (Report). Paris, FR: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. SF2.3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  4. ^ Births and natality. cdc.org (Report). U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leridon2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference morris was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Tournaye, Herman (June 2009). "Male reproductive ageing". In Bewley, Susan; Ledger, William; Nikolaou, Dimitrios (eds.). Reproductive Ageing. Cambridge University Press. pp. 95–104. ISBN 978-1-906985-13-4. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. ^ Kidd, Sharon A.; Eskenazi, Brenda; Wyrobek, Andrew J. (February 2001). "Effects of male age on semen quality and fertility: A review of the literature". Fertility and Sterility. 75 (2): 237–248. doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(00)01679-4. PMID 11172821.