Fertility Over 40: Understanding Your Options

Fertility in your 40s can feel like a race against time — but understanding how it changes with age, and the options available to you, can help you make informed, confident decisions about your next steps.

“Most of my patients in their 40s haven’t been told what’s actually happening biologically – just that time is running out. That’s not the same thing as understanding your options.”

Join Dr Arati Rao, a fertility specialist with over 20 years of experience, for a session focused specifically on fertility over 40 — not fertility in general.

Dr Rao will explain what happens to egg quantity and egg quality as we age, what this means for natural conception and IVF, and what can realistically be done to maximise the chances of a successful pregnancy.

What we will cover:

How fertility and egg quality change with age
What this means for natural conception and IVF success rates
Fertility investigations worth considering in your 40s
IVF and the role of PGT-A in improving outcomes
When other treatment options, including egg donation, may be worth considering
Live Q&A with Dr Arati Rao

Dr Arati Rao Fertility Specialist · 20+ years’ experience

Dr Arati Rao is a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine who spent two decades helping patients understand their fertility and navigate treatment decisions with clarity rather than pressure. She has helped hundreds of individuals and couples build the families they dream of. Known for her compassionate, personalised approach, Dr Rao supports patients with clear communication and evidence-based care throughout every stage of their fertility journey. She leads this session with a focus on what’s realistic, what’s evidence-based, and what actually applies to women trying to conceive in their 40s.

Is this for you?

This session is for you if you are…

Just starting to think about your fertility in your 40s and want to understand where you stand.

Already trying to conceive and want clear, evidence-based context on what’s realistic.

Weighing up your next treatment options, including IVF, PGT-A or egg donation.

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Our Terms and Conditions

Conditions of use:

London Egg Bank (LEB) is a registered company in London based at 112 Harley Street.

By reserving a donor at the LEB, you, the recipient of the donated eggs, confirm that you have:

attended a consultation with a fertility doctor at LEB or any registered fertility clinic which has a Third-Party Agreement with LEB and have a treatment plan at that clinic.
received verbal and written information about your treatment and had the opportunity to discuss the procedures involved in receiving eggs as part of your treatment with your treating clinic.
been informed that you have received all the relevant information pertaining to your treatment from your treating clinic, as required by the HFEA Code of Practice.
been offered counselling by your treating clinic regarding the implications of the treatment.
received a confirmation of the full cost of your treatment.

Ordering and purchasing donor eggs:

An order is considered completed when the recipient has completed and returned all required documentation and made payment.
LEB will confirm your order when they have received confirmation of your treatment cycle from your chosen clinic, as well as have received your signed consent forms and payment in full.
Frozen eggs provided by LEB should be used in treatment within 4 months of the date of dispatch from LEB. This is to ensure that your reserved pregnancy slot is not lost.

Please complete and sign the donor characteristics consent form within 5 days or your order will be cancelled, remember to check your junk/spam mail folder. If you have any queries regarding your donor acceptance paperwork, please call 0207 299 9547 between 08.30 – 17.30hrs and a member of staff will be happy to help you.

Donor eggs will only be reserved and dispatched after full payment of eggs and transportation if required (see the Refunds and Cancellation policy for further details).

General:

Donor Eggs (Eggs) provided by LEB may only be used for embryo creation at the laboratory of one of the registered clinics which has a TPA with LEB.
LEB provides Eggs to you for your exclusive personal use, and you confirm that you will only use them as such.
LEB Eggs provided to you may not be resold or distributed without LEB’s written permission.
All information relating to donors is kept confidential and disclosed only in the circumstances permitted by law. Information on donors comprises sensitive personal data for purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018. LEB will only provide relevant information about your selected donor to you for the purpose of allowing you to select an Egg donor, without breaching the donor’s confidentiality (Data Protection Act 2018) and the relevant requirements of the HFEA Act 1990.
LEB’s donor database usually has a large selection of available donors. However, donor availability may be limited at times. LEB provides donor eggs on a first come, first served basis.
It is important that you inform LEB of the treatment date that you have agreed with your clinic. The LEB must be informed of any changes to this date immediately.
This agreement does not override the terms of paragraph 4A of Schedule 3 to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended) (‘HFEA Act’) which states that the Egg donor may withdraw or vary her consent from the use of her eggs in treatment at any time. This includes if an embryo has already been created using her Eggs. The variation to consent may occur up until the time of embryo transfer and may result in the discard of this embryo(s).
In some cases, there may be the possibility of adding extra eggs to the order from the same or a different donor. Please be aware that embryos created from different donors cannot be used in one treatment cycle.

Quality standards:

All donors available via the LEB donor database have been recruited and screened in compliance with donation criteria under the European Tissues and Cells Directive (EUTCD), Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) standards and professional guidance.
All frozen donor egg samples have been procured, tested, processed, preserved and stored in a manner consistent with EUTCD and HFEA requirements.
LEB does not take responsibility for eggs or embryos being accepted by any other external centres.
LEB eggs meet all required quality standards. However, LEB cannot guarantee that a pregnancy will be achieved using donor eggs or that any pregnancy or offspring derived as a result of using the egg donor will be free from genetic disorders/defects or infectious diseases. In particular:

1. it is not feasible to test for ALL genetic markers or infectious diseases and in some cases, there are no available tests.
2. donor testing is properly administered; however, even where the results return as normal, the tests have limitations and may not be entirely reliable; and
3. LEB’s recruitment processes (including counselling) rely on the donor providing accurate and correct information about their genetic and general health history. We treat the information provided by the donor in good faith. LEB is not able to independently verify this information. However, to date we are not aware of any inaccurate information being provided by our donors.

Donor confidentiality:

Non-identifying information about each donor is displayed on the LEB donor database. LEB is unable to provide any further personal information on donors.

Refunds and cancellation policy:

Should you change your mind and wish to cancel your order for any reason, LEB will offer you a full refund within 5 working days of placing an order.
Please note that the egg thaw survival rate and fertilisation rate provided on our patient information materials represent the averages of all patients per stated period of time and age group. We do not guarantee a minimum egg thaw survival or fertilisation rate per patient cycle.
In the rare event that all the eggs (whether from one donor or a mix of two or more donors) do not survive the thawing process, LEB will offer you a new batch of eggs free of charge.
Once donor eggs are dispatched from our premises and delivered to a treatment centre not part of London Women’s
Clinic / JD Healthcare Group, they are non-returnable and non-refundable.

Limitation of liability:

LEB shall not be liable for any special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the materials on this site or the performance of the products, even if LEB has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Applicable law may not allow the limitation of exclusion of liability or incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
London Egg Bank cannot guarantee that additional eggs will be available at a later date for the purposes of treatment for a sibling pregnancy.
Donated eggs (fresh and/or frozen) are not quarantined prior to use. There is therefore a theoretical risk of transmission of infection through the transfer of embryos.