Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Perimenopause?Pregnant or Perimenopausal?How to Know If You’re FertileDo You Need Contraception?Pregnancy RisksConceiving in Perimenopause
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Perimenopause?
Pregnant or Perimenopausal?
How to Know If You’re Fertile
Do You Need Contraception?
Pregnancy Risks
Conceiving in Perimenopause
Fertility gradually diminishes as you age. Though you can’t get pregnant during menopause, it is possible to conceive during perimenopause. Perimenopause describes the transition to menopause.
Caiaimage / Paul Viant / Getty Images
Perimenopause usually begins in your mid-40s. The average age of menopause is 51.Some don’t reach menopause until later, however. Although the birth rate for people over the age of 50 is small, some people do become pregnant during midlife, when many believe it is no longer possible to get pregnant.
This article will tell you what you need to know about the possibility of pregnancy during perimenopause. It will also help you understand how to know if you’re still fertile and whether you need to continue using contraception.
Perimenopauserefers to the months or years leading up tomenopause. Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstrual periods, which occurs at an average age of 51. Perimenopause (also called menopausal transition) can last just a few months or for up to 14 years, beginning as early as a woman’s late thirties.
Periods tend to become irregular during perimenopause. You may experience symptoms such as:
What Is the Average Age for Menopause to Start?
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there were 840 births to women 50 years and over in 2017. In addition, the birth rate for women aged 45 and over was 0.9 births per 1,000 women, and for women aged 50 to 54 it was 0.8 births per 10,000 women.
Are You Pregnant or Perimenopausal?
Healthcare providers may perform blood tests to determine if someone who has skipped one or more periods is either pregnant or approaching menopause. These tests measure the levels of certain hormones.
Some of these hormones signal pregnancy (a positive hCG test) and others can provide clues about a woman’s ovarian function or decline.
FSH levels fluctuate during perimenopause, however, so it is difficult to interpret a single number. This is why an FSH blood or urine level alone cannot accurately diagnose perimenopause or menopause. A woman’s symptoms and menstrual history are also needed to complete the diagnosis.
Signs of Late Menopause
How Do You Know If You’re Still Fertile?
It is not possible to get pregnant after menopause. However, if it’s been less than a year since your last period, it’s also not possible to know if you are in menopause or not. You should assume you’re still capable of conceiving until your menstrual periods have ceased for 12 full months.
Ovarian function waxes and wanes in perimenopause, meaning that a woman may release an egg some months but not others. Additionally, body levels of estrogen, progesterone, and other hormones tend to be erratic during this time and egg quality decreases.
These factors contribute to a more than 50 percent decrease in fertility among women 40 and over compared to younger women.But natural conception is still possible—if remote—for many women until they reach their mid-fifties.
Experimental Fertility Treatments for Perimenopause
Do You Still Need Contraception?
Unless you want to conceive during perimenopause,contraceptionis essential until you haven’t had a period for a full year.A 2015 review found that 75% of pregnancies in women over age 40 were unplanned.
What Are the Pregnancy Risks During Perimenopause?
Pregnancy can be higher risk in people who are in perimenopause. The rates of miscarriage are higher among older mothers because of lower-quality eggs, variable hormones, and uterine changes.
The rigors of pregnancy are also harder on older mothers, who suffer more than their younger counterparts from complications such as:
If you’re in perimenopause and hope to conceive, it’s important to begin trying as soon as possible, since your fertility will continue to wane. Consult your healthcare provider if you haven’t conceived after six months of unprotected intercourse.
The good news is that there are options available to help couples struggling with conceiving a child.
Summary
It is possible to get pregnant during perimenopause, which is the time when your body is transitioning to menopause. It is not possible to become pregnant after menopause, but it can be difficult to know if you’re in menopause or not.
Hormone tests can help suggest whether or not you’re still fertile, but until it has been 12 months since your last period, you can’t be certain you are in menopause. If you don’t want to get pregnant, keep using contraception. If you do want to get pregnant and haven’t conceived after six months of trying, talk to your healthcare provider.
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The North American Menopause Society.Menopause 101: A primer for the perimenopausal.National Institute on Aging.What is menopause?Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, Driscoll AK, Drake P.Births: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 67 no 8. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Age and fertility.American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Reproductive aging in women.Long ME, Faubion SS, MacLaughlin KL, Pruthi S, Casey PM.Contraception and hormonal management in the perimenopause.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015;24(1):3-10. doi:10.1089/jwh.2013.4544
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The North American Menopause Society.Menopause 101: A primer for the perimenopausal.National Institute on Aging.What is menopause?Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, Driscoll AK, Drake P.Births: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 67 no 8. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Age and fertility.American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Reproductive aging in women.Long ME, Faubion SS, MacLaughlin KL, Pruthi S, Casey PM.Contraception and hormonal management in the perimenopause.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015;24(1):3-10. doi:10.1089/jwh.2013.4544
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
The North American Menopause Society.Menopause 101: A primer for the perimenopausal.National Institute on Aging.What is menopause?Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, Driscoll AK, Drake P.Births: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 67 no 8. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Age and fertility.American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Reproductive aging in women.Long ME, Faubion SS, MacLaughlin KL, Pruthi S, Casey PM.Contraception and hormonal management in the perimenopause.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015;24(1):3-10. doi:10.1089/jwh.2013.4544
The North American Menopause Society.Menopause 101: A primer for the perimenopausal.
National Institute on Aging.What is menopause?
Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, Driscoll AK, Drake P.Births: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 67 no 8. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Age and fertility.
American Society for Reproductive Medicine.Reproductive aging in women.
Long ME, Faubion SS, MacLaughlin KL, Pruthi S, Casey PM.Contraception and hormonal management in the perimenopause.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015;24(1):3-10. doi:10.1089/jwh.2013.4544
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