Services
IVF & Fertility Care for Women over 40
Thousands of women over 40 have built their families with us. We're here to help you explore what's possible.
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Fertility naturally declines with age, but for many women in their forties, pregnancy is still achievable with the right treatment and support. Our Harley Street clinic achieves a 24% live birth rate for women aged 40–42 — more than double the UK national average of 11%. For women aged 43–44, our results match the national average.
We share this data openly because we believe you deserve honesty, not false hope. Through treatments such as PGT-A, donor egg treatment and implantation support, we have helped many women over 40 achieve successful pregnancies.
Trying to conceive in your forties can feel overwhelming especially if you've already experienced failed cycles, miscarriage or years of uncertainty. Those feelings are completely valid.
Fertility does change with age. As the number and quality of eggs declines, conception becomes more challenging but it does not become impossible. With the right investigations, a carefully considered treatment plan and specialist support, many women over 40 go on to have successful pregnancies. The key is understanding your individual circumstances and making informed decisions based on your own fertility profile.
We’ve spent decades helping women at this stage of life. Our approach is clear, realistic and focussed on what will help you have a baby. This may include IVF with your own eggs, embryo genetic testing to improve outcomes or exploring donor eggs when that offers the strongest chance of success.
Most importantly you won’t be rushed, dismissed or given false hope. We’ll take the time to listen, support and guide you through your options so you can make confident decisions about what’s right for you.
Treatment options for women over 40
Your specialist will take time to understand your medical history, previous treatment outcomes and personal priorities before making any recommendations. Treatments commonly used for women in their forties include:
PGT-A screens embryos for chromosomal abnormalities during IVF identifying those unlikely to implant or that may result in miscarriage. As chromosomal abnormalities become more common with age, it is particularly relevant for women over 40. While PGT-A cannot guarantee a successful pregnancy, it helps your specialist make more informed decisions about which embryos to transfer.
If you’ve had good quality embryos transferred without success, then our Implantation clinic may help uncover why. This specialist service is designed to benefit patients who have had failed treatment cycles with good quality embryos following IVF, ICSI, egg donation and IVF/ICSI with PGT-A.
We assess the womb lining (endometrium) and other factors that may affect implantation, looking for treatable causes. Your results are then used to create a personalised plan aimed at improving your chances in future cycles.
For some women, age-related changes in egg quality make conception with their own eggs less likely. In these cases, donor eggs offer significantly higher success rates because eggs are provided by younger donors, egg donation effectively removes the age-related decline in egg quality that can make conception more challenging.
Donor egg treatment allows you to carry the pregnancy, give birth and build a strong bond with your baby, something research consistently shows is unaffected by genetics.
Through our sister clinic London Egg Bank, we offer fast access to carefully screened UK donor eggs. Whether you're considering altruistic, intra-partner or known egg donation, we will guide and support you every step of the way.
Success Stories
Join the many families who have achieved their dreams with London Women’s Clinic. Explore our patient success stories and be inspired by real journeys to parenthood.
Watch Amy's story to hear how she became a mother in her 50s using both donor sperm and donor eggs with treatment at London Women's Clinic.
Over 40’s Fertility FAQs
In particular women in their late thirties and early forties can benefit from embryo screening due to their increased chance of having embryos with chromosomal imbalance.
Women and couples who have suffered multiple miscarriages or failed IVF treatments may also find this treatment beneficial, as screening would optimise the chance that only embryos with normal numbers of balanced chromosomes are used for transfer.
Egg donation is also a popular option for women in their 40s, particularly women over 42, as success rates for treatment with their own eggs tends to decline significantly after this age.
Although the baby will not be genetically related to the mother, egg donation can provide a woman with the opportunity to still carry and give birth to her baby, and research has shown that bonding is unaffected.
Not all women over forty are infertile, and the chance of conception for many may still be quite good. Indeed, the number of women over forty having a baby has risen four-fold in the past thirty years and in Britain births to women over thirty-five now represent one in five of all babies born.
All women are born with a fixed store of eggs in the ovaries (ovarian reserve) which steadily decline each month through ovulation and natural loss. Eventually, this store of eggs simply runs out, and menopause signals the end of a woman’s fertile life.
Even in the years preceding menopause, menstrual cycles may become irregular and fertility much less predictable. The eggs released from the ovaries might not be as good as they once were, impacting the likelihood of successful and healthy pregnancies
Why Choose London Women’s Clinic for Over 40s Fertility
Women in their forties often come to us after disappointment elsewhere. Here’s why thousands of patients trust us:
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Blog
Stories, Advice and Research
Ella's Story: The Embryo that Changed Everything
"If she hadn't made that phone call, I would never have known that embryo had a chance..." At 46, having already been through three IVF cycles and preparing to begin donor egg treatment, Ella had almost given up on the idea of becoming a mother using her own eggs. Then an embryologist at London Women's Clinic made a call that changed everything. This is the story of one frozen embryo, a DNA swab sent from overseas, and the four-year-old girl who is now the light of her mother's life — and why advances in genetic embryo testing are making the seemingly impossible possible.
How PGT-A helped one patient create her family
Michelle was 39 when she walked into a London Women's Clinic open day, already certain of one thing: she didn't want to waste time. What followed was two IVF cycles, a devastating first round where no embryos were chromosomally normal, a mosaic result, and an embryo that came back from retesting as something extraordinary — euploid, chromosomally normal, and ready to become her daughter.
Lauren and Lisa’s Same-Sex Fertility Journey with the LWC Shared Motherhood Programme
The process of egg sharing amongst same-sex female couples sees one partner’s eggs being used to impregnate the other – resulting in the egg provider being the biological parent and the person carrying the baby being the gestational parent. Lauren and Lisa describe how this process helped them start their family.
Free fertility events
Stay informed about the latest seminars, webinars and workshops on fertility.
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Start Your Personalised Fertility Health Assessment
Every fertility journey is unique, and our expert team is here to guide you with care, knowledge and support. A Fertility Health Assessment gives you the insight you need to make confident decisions about your next steps.
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