You want a child – and suddenly the number 40 is in the room. Perhaps the right partner came along late, perhaps life had other plans. Only one thing matters now: don't wait. As the fertility pioneer since 1982, we tell you honestly what is realistic over 40 – and use modern medicine to make the very best of your possibilities.
Getting pregnant at 40 is no longer a rarity: since the year 2000, statistics have observed a sharp rise in births in which the woman is older than forty. At the same time: natural fertility gradually declines from around 30, more noticeably from 35 – and from 40 onwards, every month truly counts. That is not meant to frighten you. But it explains why we advise couples over 40 to move at a different pace than in their early thirties: a fast work-up, an honest assessment, targeted treatment – instead of losing valuable cycles to waiting.
On this page you will learn how fertility changes from 40, what we do for you at the Wunschbaby Institut Feichtinger – from AMH testing to IVF/ICSI at 40 and egg donation – and what your path looks like step by step.
Chance of conception per cycle – why pace makes the difference from 40 onwards.
The most important reason for declining fertility is not the uterus and not the cycle – it is the quality of the eggs. Over the years, the proportion of chromosomally abnormal eggs increases. That explains both: the lower chance of a pregnancy and the higher risk of a miscarriage.
"While in a 30-year-old woman every second to third egg is chromosomally normal, in a 40-year-old woman this drops to roughly every fifth to sixth egg," says Univ. Prof. Dr. Wilfried Feichtinger, founder of the Wunschbaby Institut.
The good news: chromosomally healthy eggs exist at 40 too – there are simply fewer of them. This is exactly where our work begins: obtaining as many eggs as possible, identifying the embryos capable of development, and losing no time on futile attempts. And statistics are not your individual case: only an examination shows how things look for you personally. You can read more background on our page Late motherhood.
Over 40, we do not treat by rote, but with everything a 360° institute with its own laboratory can offer – tailored to your ovarian reserve and your history.
It begins with assessing your ovarian reserve via the AMH value and the antral follicles on ultrasound, plus cycle and thyroid hormones, an assessment of the uterus and fallopian tubes – and a semen analysis of your partner from the very start. This way, you lose no time with half-done assessments.
We tailor the hormonal stimulation individually to your ovarian reserve – with the aim of obtaining the maximum number of eggs from each cycle. All methods are adapted to the medical and also psychological needs of the woman.
Assisted reproduction has been our core expertise since 1982: IVF and ICSI, in which a single sperm is injected directly into the egg. More than 30,000 children have been born with our help since 1983.
With preimplantation genetic testing, the chromosomally healthy embryos can be selected for transfer – the miscarriage rate decreases, and the consequences of a futile transfer are avoided. Ideal precisely from 40 onwards – in our in-house genetics laboratory, without detours.
With DuoStim, two stimulations and egg retrievals follow within a single cycle. This makes it possible to obtain significantly more eggs within one month – particularly valuable when only few eggs develop under conventional stimulation.
If your own eggs are no longer sufficient, egg donation is a path that has been legally permitted in Austria since 2015 – women can choose this therapy up to their 45th birthday. We talk openly with you about when this step makes sense.
A desire for a child over 40 often brings special questions with it – and sometimes the experience of previous disappointments. Our psychotherapeutic support is at your side throughout the entire treatment. Because the psyche, too, is an important parameter when it comes to having a child.
A balanced diet, folic acid, vitamin D and giving up nicotine support egg quality and the cycle. Micronutrients developed specifically for fertility can be found in our FertiFate range; our guide Nutrition and fertility provides the background. On request, we also accompany you with complementary medicine.
No detours, no holding patterns – at every step you know what comes next.
A one-hour first consultation: we discuss your history, assess the uterus and ovaries by ultrasound and plan the further work-up – for both partners.
AMH value and antral follicles, cycle and thyroid hormones, semen analysis. Over 40, we bundle the diagnostics so that no valuable months are lost.
We assess the findings honestly and define the path together – from cycle optimisation to IVF/ICSI and the question of whether DuoStim or preimplantation genetic testing will increase your chances.
The stimulation is dosed individually and closely monitored. Egg retrieval takes place in a short outpatient procedure – if needed as a DuoStim with a second retrieval in the same cycle.
Fertilisation by IVF or ICSI, culture to the blastocyst stage – and, if you wish, genetic testing in our in-house laboratory to select the embryos capable of development for transfer.
The embryo transfer takes only a few minutes and needs no anaesthesia. Afterwards we accompany you through hormonal support, the pregnancy test and the first ultrasound checks.
Over 40, time is the most important factor you can influence. A first consultation commits you to nothing: you receive an honest assessment of your starting position – and then decide calmly whether and how to proceed. From a medical point of view: when older expectant mothers receive optimal medical care, they have just as good a chance of giving birth to a healthy, normally developed child as younger women.
Yes – but at 40 the chance per cycle is only around ten percent, compared with about 30 percent at the ideal childbearing age between 20 and 25. That is why the rule over 40 is: don't wait too long. Even after just a few months without success, a fertility work-up makes sense – it does not automatically mean treatment.
The main reason is egg quality: over the years, the proportion of chromosomally abnormal eggs increases. "While in a 30-year-old woman every second to third egg is chromosomally normal, in a 40-year-old woman this drops to roughly every fifth to sixth egg," says Univ. Prof. Dr. Wilfried Feichtinger. That explains the lower chance of pregnancy and the higher risk of miscarriage – only an examination shows how things look for you personally.
An assessment of the ovarian reserve via the AMH value and the number of small follicles on ultrasound, plus cycle hormones, thyroid values and an assessment of the uterus and fallopian tubes. Because fertility is impaired in one in ten men, a current semen analysis of your partner is part of it from the start.
That depends above all on your ovarian reserve and egg quality – statistics are not your individual case, and blanket percentages are of little help to you. That is why the work-up comes first with us: only with the AMH value, ultrasound and semen analysis can we honestly assess your personal outlook and tailor the treatment plan accordingly – for example with DuoStim or preimplantation genetic testing.
Because a larger share of eggs is chromosomally altered from 40 onwards, preimplantation genetic testing helps select the healthy embryos for transfer: the miscarriage rate decreases, and the consequences of a futile transfer due to genetically altered eggs can be avoided. We recommend chromosome analyses of the polar bodies from about the age of 38 – the testing takes place in our own genetics laboratory on site.
With DuoStim, stimulation and egg retrieval in the first half of the cycle are directly followed by a second stimulation in the second half of the cycle. This makes it possible to obtain significantly more eggs within one month than with conventional stimulation. It is particularly interesting when only few eggs develop or when the number of testable embryos for preimplantation genetic testing is to be increased.
For treatment with your own eggs there is no rigid age limit – what matters are your ovarian reserve and your medical fitness for a pregnancy. Clear legal limits apply to egg donation: the recipient must not yet have completed her 45th year of life at the start of treatment (as of 2026). We clarify the details in a consultation.
From the age of 35, a high-risk pregnancy is formally noted in the Austrian mother-child booklet – at first this is a classification, not an alarm signal. With good medical care, healthy expectant mothers over 40 have very good prospects of a healthy child. Particular attention is paid to blood pressure and glucose metabolism; both are part of normal prenatal care and easily monitored.
A free info evening or an in-depth first consultation with ultrasound right away – you set the pace, we make sure no month is lost.
Or call us: +43 1 877 77 75
Get to know our team and learn everything about the process, success rates and costs of fertility treatment – 15 minutes, free of charge and with no obligation, online or on site.
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