Share:

While you might envision life with a partner someday, you don’t need one to pursue motherhood. Still, you should keep a few factors in mind before taking this route. Whether you’re hoping to conceive naturally or work with a fertility doctor, use this guide to assess your options and create a plan for the future.

3 Factors to Consider Before Having a Baby on Your Own

1. Your Age

The longer you wait to conceive, the less likely you are to have a successful traditional pregnancy. While women are most fertile in their 20s, that success rate shrinks to 20% by your 30s and a mere 5% by your 40s because the quality and number of eggs in the body decreases with age.

By your early 30s, you’ll want to either conceive naturally or freeze your eggs for later use to ensure a future pregnancy. In either case, if you don’t want to conceive with a partner, you can look into using a sperm donor. This sample would be injected into your uterus, where it will attach to one of your natural or implanted eggs.

2. Your Reasons for Wanting a Child

fertility doctorFor some women, their desire to become a parent is partly to do with creating another version of themselves, or at least a child who is firmly a part of their biological family tree. If you can relate to this longing, the earlier you conceive, the better.

However, if you simply want to raise a child, teach them about the world, and watch them grow, age is not as much of a concern. Some single parents opt for egg donation, in which a fertility doctor implants eggs from a young, healthy donor into your reproductive system. A similar process can be done when the embryo has already formed.

You can also look into options like surrogacy—when another woman carries and births your child—as well as adoption.

3. How Many Children You’d Like

Envision your family five, 10, or even 15 years down the line. How many children do you see running around the house or sitting around the dinner table? The more children you’d like, the earlier you’ll need to plan.

If you’re hoping to have two children or more, experts recommend trying to conceive around 27. By age 35, you’ll need to look into egg or embryo freezing. If you’re hoping to wait until you’re older to welcome children into your life, this will allow for a greater chance of successful pregnancy in your 40s. After that, options such as surrogacy and adoption are the most viable.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about your fertility, visit Pacific In Vitro Fertilization Institute in Honolulu, HI. These fertility doctors have helped couples and single parents alike since 1985. To learn more about their IVF treatments, egg freezing, and genetic screening services, visit the website. Call (808) 946-2226 to schedule an appointment with a fertility doctor.

tracking