Patients oftenly asks doctors if there is an age limit for using own eggs for IVF. As Alberto Vaiarelli, gynecologist and medical research coordinator of the GeneraLife Rome center, explains “the age limits are certainly related to the patient’s age. In fact, the more we age, the more we have a qualitative and quantitative decrease in oocytes. If we must identify an age limit, it would be 44-45 years. Therefore, in own eggs fertilization the limit is certainly this one, since in vitro fertilization fails to improve the quality of our gametes.
In heterologous fertilization, on the other hand, the limit according to the law, at least in Italy, is 50 years. We must keep in mind that, even if such a wide limit has been set, common sense is always considering that pregnancies after 45 years, even with egg donation, involve very high risks. Therefore, in counseling with patients, it is very important to underline that all pregnancies in advanced maternal age are correlated with a greater obstetric risk and a greater neonatal risk linked to all the problems connected to a pregnancy obtained at such an advanced age “.
