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Many women intentionally choose to be older before trying to have babies.

The pros and cons of IFV play a big role in determining whether to have one child or more.

Infertility treatment has become a booming business.

Some state governments and companies pay for different facets of IVF.

It’s a fact that women are having babies older than in previous generations and that they intend to do so. While some women seem to have no trouble becoming pregnant and having children, others find that medical intervention is necessary.

Women who start their families at 35 and up are more likely to have difficulty becoming pregnant. More than one-third of adults in the U.S. have either used some form of assisted reproductive technology (ART), which includes intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), surrogates, egg donors, sperm donors, or know someone who has, according to the Pew Research Center. Among those with a college degree, that figure is 43 percent, and it jumps to almost half (48 percent) among those who earn over $75,000 a year.

The Infertility Journey

For couples who can’t conceive, the sadness is immeasurable. Failed fertility treatments and miscarriages are devastating. “A fertility journey is among the most punishing, consequential quests a human can endure,” writes Kathryn Blaze Baum in her book, In Fertility: The Story of a Miracle and the Big Business Behind It. “No one ever told me it [having a baby] might not be so straightforward…If you have time and money, you’ll probably be able to have a baby if you persist.”

Waiting until she was older didn’t deter Judith*, 50, a cellist with a major U.S. orchestra. She paid for fertility treatments without assistance—no government or employer support. Once she decided she wanted a child, she went through four........

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