Menopause and fertility

Menopause is the period that occurs after what we know as the end of our menstrual cycles, it is a completely natural and normal stage in women who have an average age of 50 years.In addition to being a natural stage, menopause has been acquired through some intervention, either through drugs, medications and surgeries, but it should be noted that this period of menopause must be determined by a fertility specialist.

Another fundamental aspect to take into account on our subject of menopause and fertility, is that there are many symptoms and irregularities regarding our menstrual cycles in the perimenopausal stage. Many women tend to confuse or ignore this first stage, perimenopause is the cycle that precedes menopause, in it we can experience changes in hormonal levels.

These stages of perimenopause and menopause, occur mainly due to the arrest of our ovarian function, therefore, our ovaries significantly decrease the production of estrogens and progesterone, this lack and deterioration of the reproductive functioning of women, triggers a total loss of our fertility .

As for our fertility, there are six stages that we can develop to better understand it:

Ovulation begins, generally from the age of 13
The highest peak of fertility, starting at age 21
Decreased fertility, from the age of 30
Low fertility levels, starting at age 37
Very low biological probability of fertility, before 45 years of age
Total loss of fertility, starting at age 50

Premature menopause and fertility

Premature menopause is when the woman has experienced a permanent loss of menstruation before the age of 40, where the symptoms of menopause begin to occur with more intensity, the consequence of this is that the woman stops producing hormones that are the fundamental basis of your fertility such as progesterone and estrogens.

There are several causes for which there may be a premature menopause, among the main reasons are smoking tobacco, the consumption of some medications, oncology treatments, surgeries and diseases caused by some viruses, there are also genetic pathologies such as the syndrome Turner or cases where autoimmune disorder occurs, in which our system destroys tissue in our body.

When women are born, they already have a specific number of eggs which vary between 300,000 and 400,000, starting from puberty and the first menstrual cycle, these numbers begin to release and reduce, so when they reach 40 they are already it begins to deplete the reserve, therefore, naturally, as the years go by, menopause is achieved.

In cases where menopause occurs even at a younger age, it is because the number of eggs was much lower than normal. As the ovary cannot release any more eggs and estrogen production ends, the result is the inability to get pregnant.

A premature menopause affects your fertility, and those women who are affected by this have the inability to get pregnant naturally, there are different tests that can help you establish if you are suffering from premature menopause in which it is performed through an examination of blood that measures your hormonal level.

Probability of getting pregnant after Menopause?

When the woman has already gone through menopause, the probability of getting pregnant naturally is very unlikely, the reason is that the ovaries are no longer working, so the ovum is not created and the sperm cannot be fertilized. we mean menopause.

This does not mean that a woman cannot access pregnancy, on the contrary, today there are assisted reproduction methods, such as in vitro fertilization, which is a method that uses the eggs of a donor woman, they are fertilized in a laboratory and then implanted in the woman's uterus.

Assisted reproduction methods are becoming increasingly popular and in demand thanks to their results, on average it has a effectiveness 40 to 60% Always depending on different factors, which can increase or decrease the chances of a successful pregnancy, the important thing is to always go to the specialists, who can give you a more accurate opinion according to the studies they will carry out.

Can I get pregnant naturally after menopause?

Getting pregnant after menopause has very low success rates, since the woman is born has a specific number of eggs which are released in each menstruation, so that after menopause the reserves are already depleted in most of the cases.

But this will depend on several factors, the most common are the use of hormonal contraceptives, such as the patch, pills or the vaginal ring, its effects are to stop ovulation, so it can give more time to fertility to a woman.

Although in the same way the probabilities are minimal, we know that when we go through menopause we have more than a year without having menstruation, so it is a clear indication that our body is not producing more eggs, reducing the probability of getting pregnant from natural form.

Can I have assisted reproductive treatment after menopause?

It is a very common question when you already have menopause and the answer is that if we can undergo an assisted reproduction process, the important thing is that the specialist performs the different tests to know the state of the uterus, such as your general health, with the purpose of increasing the chances of obtaining a successful pregnancy.

Menopause now does not mean that you can not get pregnant, really for doctors it is only a limitation to the way to get pregnant, naturally it is clear that it will not be very likely, instead thanks to different scientific advances it is now possible thanks to assisted reproductive methods.

Thanks to the scientists and doctors who continue to investigate and innovate we can achieve a safe pregnancy, at CELAGEM we have the attitudes that are needed so that you can carry out a safe pregnancy, we take care of your health and our reputation is our best ally.