In recent years, social and economic factors have influenced many couples' decisions about becoming parents, with the age of conception rising steadily.

Data from 2025 at Embryos, one of Romania's largest fertility clinics, shows that the average age of women undergoing in vitro fertilization has risen to 35.5 years — one year more than in 2024. And the number of patients over 39 has doubled in a single year. This is not a statistical anomaly. It is a signal about how we live.

Europe and Romania: similar trends

At the European level, the total fertility rate dropped in 2023 to 1.38, the lowest level in recent Eurostat records. The average age at first child in the EU is 29.8 years; in Romania, 27.1 years. We are "younger" than the European average, but the trend is the same: longer education, economic instability, migration, housing costs — all of these push the moment of starting a family toward increasingly narrow biological windows.

What actually happens to fertility with age

Female fertility declines gradually, but the drop accelerates after 35. Ovarian reserve decreases, egg quality falls, and the chances of a spontaneous pregnancy or a successful IVF cycle diminish progressively. There are women who conceive naturally at 40 and women who face difficulties at 28, but age remains one of the most important predictive factors in assisted reproduction.

This is why the moment a couple decides to seek specialist help directly affects their chances of success.

What doctors are seeing: data from the clinic

The figures from Embryos, a clinic specialising in assisted human reproduction, illustrate concretely what this delay means at a population level. In 2025, over 2,500 men underwent basic fertility testing at the clinic's laboratory — an increase of more than 10% compared to the previous year. Moreover, the average age of male partners dropped from 38 to 36, a sign that infertility is affecting increasingly younger couples.

On the female side, the picture is more complex: if the average age at IVF has risen, it means that more and more women are arriving at the clinic after trying on their own for years, without knowing that options exist or that time matters.

There is, however, growing data that offers hope. In 2025, Embryos recorded successful IVF outcomes in patients around the age of 41 and in medically complex cases.

What you can do when facing infertility

Infertility is medically defined as the absence of pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse, or after 6 months if the woman is over 35. There are several directions you can explore, depending on the identified cause.

Initial investigations are always the first step: hormonal tests, an ultrasound to assess ovarian reserve and a sperm analysis for the partner.

Ovarian stimulation and intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a less invasive option than IVF, suitable in selected cases such as irregular ovulation or mild to moderate male factor infertility. It is performed on an outpatient basis and involves a relatively short protocol.

In vitro fertilization (IVF/ICSI) is the procedure in which eggs are fertilised in a laboratory and the resulting embryos are transferred to the uterus. It is the recommended solution in more complex cases or after other methods have not succeeded.

Egg freezing (Social Freezing) is an increasingly requested option for women who are not yet ready for motherhood but want to preserve their biological chances. Eggs retrieved at 28 to 30 years of age have significantly better success rates than those retrieved after 38.

Egg donation is available for cases in which ovarian reserve is depleted or egg quality does not allow for a viable embryo. Romania permits anonymous donation, and specialised clinics maintain active donor lists.

"The most common regret I hear from my patients is not that they tried and it didn't work — it's that they waited too long before coming in for a first consultation. An assessment consultation does not mean you will do IVF. It means you know where you stand and what options you have. And that changes everything." — Dr. Andreea Velișcu, specialist in assisted human reproduction, Embryos

A first step

Embryos offers initial consultations for both women and couples — including for partners, an aspect that is frequently overlooked, even though male infertility is involved in approximately half of all cases.

A first consultation does not mean you will follow a treatment. It means you know where you stand, what your ovarian reserve is, whether there are factors worth investigating and what options are available based on your specific situation.

Also recommended How to Prepare for IVF: The Questions Nobody Thinks to Ask, a Realistic Timeline, and Where to Go in Bucharest