How does female age affect ovarian reserve and IVF success?

• A. Age-related decline improves ovarian reserve and oocyte quality, increasing live birth rates
• B. IVF success is independent of age
• C. Age-related decline reduces ovarian reserve and oocyte quality, lowering live birth rates, especially after age 35–40
• D. Ovarian reserve increases with age

Answer: (C)

Age affects both the number and the quality of a woman’s eggs. The ovarian reserve—the pool of recruitable follicles—naturally shrinks over time, which is why markers like AMH and antral follicle count decline and FSH tends to rise as age increases. At the same time, the quality of the remaining oocytes declines with age, leading to more chromosomal abnormalities and poorer embryo viability. In IVF, success depends on obtaining enough good-quality eggs and producing embryos with a high chance of implantation. This combined decline in quantity and quality becomes more pronounced after the mid-30s and especially after 40, resulting in lower live birth rates. So, age-related decline reducing both ovarian reserve and oocyte quality, thereby lowering live birth rates—particularly after 35–40—is the best way to describe the effect.