I just turned 35! 🎂

So, as of my 35th birthday, my fertility is supposed to decline from now on.

Here are some common narratives you've likely heard:

• Your egg quality and quantity declines rapidly after 35

• You're unlikely to get pregnant after 35 without reproductive assistance technologies like IVF

• You should probably freeze your eggs if you want to have children after 35

• Pregnancies after 35 are referred to as 'geriatric pregnancies', or the more recently updated term AMA, 'advanced maternal age' (which isn't much better)

What sorts of things have you heard or experienced about fertility after 35?

If you're reading this and you've had difficulty with your fertility after 35, I'm very sorry. You deserve better. I'm not trying to diminish your experience by ranting about mine.

I just know that women deserve better than to be told that their body is failing after a certain age - an age when, for a lot of us, things are just getting good!

Now, I'm not trying to get pregnant, but I still take offense to being considered 'geriatric'.

Because I've been charting my Fertile Signs since my early 20's, I know that not only am I VERY fertile, I'm the healthiest I've ever been!

Um, so, instead of celebrating a woman in her prime we call her 'geriatric'?

I don't think so.

(and, no offense to geriatrics.)

I'm not charting my cycle because I'm trying to get pregnant; I'm charting because I know my cycle is my "monthly report card" telling me how well I'm doing overall.

I want to live in a world where "fertility" isn't a term used only in reference to making babies, but where "fertility" and "health" are understood to mean the same thing.

(Give me time, I'm going to make it happen.)

What we actually know is that aging is a process that affects every person differently. It's arbitrary to say that 35 is an age cliff that all female bodies just fall off of into infertility. Life doesn't work like that.

What we actually know is that egg quality is linked to mitochondrial health, not birthday-aging. Listen to this Fertility Friday podcast episode to find out more about the link between egg quality and mitochondria.

I've worked with 20-year-olds whose hormones were at menopausal levels of subfertility, and have known many women who have had healthy, natural pregnancies into their 40s and even 50s! I bet you have, too.

Yes, it is true that:

• Statistically, by age 35, you have a fraction of the eggs you were born with

• Cell oxidization begins to advance the aging process after a certain age (different for everyone)

• What your cells get exposed to (acute UV radiation, processed foods, rancid seed oils, etc.) accelerate cellular aging

But did you know that your cycle can tell you how well your body is doing with all of that?! SO COOL.

If I could wave a magic wand, I would make is so that every menstruator knew how to track their three fertile signs:

• Cervical Fluid

• Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

• Cervical Position

so that she knew how fertile she was throughout her entire reproductive life.

Well, I don't have a magic wand, but I can share with you the knowledge that is your birthright. I can help you to achieve your fertility goals - whether that's contraception conception or hormone balance - at any age, at any stage of life.

Book a call with me to begin your journey.

Here's to 35!

Love,

Hadley