We hear it more and more often: “An acquaintance of mine has been trying for years.” “My friend has already been through three IVF cycles.” “And meanwhile, we just hope quietly every month.” But is the number of couples struggling with infertility really rising, or are more and more people finally daring to speak up: the baby isn’t coming.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), one in six people worldwide struggles with fertility issues. This is not only a personal tragedy but increasingly a social issue as well. In Hungary, 15–20% of couples wishing for children are affected. Therefore, infertility has now become a public health concern.
Do we really have time?
The age at which people start having children has shifted dramatically. While it was once natural for women to give birth in their early twenties, today more and more women become mothers for the first time after thirty, and not infrequently in their early forties. Female fertility, however, does not follow social trends. It starts to decline slowly from the age of 25, deteriorates significantly after 35, and the chances of spontaneous conception are extremely low after 40. For men, this process is slower, but after age 40, sperm count and quality decrease for them as well, and the risk of genetic abnormalities, such as autism or miscarriage, increases.
The problem is that we still talk about this too little and too late. According to domestic surveys, the majority of Hungarian young people aged 18–35 have low fertility awareness. Many are unaware that fertility begins to decline by the late twenties, and most vastly overestimate the success rate of IVF programs. Yet, a healthy lifestyle cannot turn back time. Although it is very important and has countless benefits, female fertility cannot be preserved: as age progresses, ovarian function declines naturally.
