Reasons for delaying childbearing--a survey of women aged over 35 years seeking assisted reproductive technology.

BACKGROUND

Many women seeking assisted reproductive technology for their first planned pregnancy may be unaware of the impact of age on fertility.

METHOD

An anonymous mailed survey to women aged over 35 years with no previous planned pregnancies, registered with Monash IVF between January 2002 and May 2003.

RESULTS

One hundred and fifty-two out of 266 surveys were completed (57%). The most common reported reasons for delaying pregnancies were: not having a partner (50%), wanting financial security (32%) and a career (19%) before having a family, only recently becoming interested in having children (26%), and being unaware of the impact of age on fertility (18%).

DISCUSSION

Some reported reasons for delaying childbearing were beyond personal control. Lack of awareness of the impact of age on fertility may have contributed to the delay in a proportion of the women surveyed.