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Maternal age at birth and daughter's fecundability
Basso, O., Willis, S. K., Hatch, E. E., Mikkelsen, E. M., Rothman, K. J., & Wise, L. A. (2021). Maternal age at birth and daughter's fecundability. Human Reproduction, 36(7), 1970-1980. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deab057
STUDY QUESTION: Do daughters of older mothers have lower fecundability?
SUMMARY ANSWER: In this cohort study of North American pregnancy planners, there was virtually no association between maternal age ≥35 years and daughters' fecundability.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Despite suggestive evidence that daughters of older mothers may have lower fertility, only three retrospective studies have examined the association between maternal age and daughter's fecundability.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Prospective cohort study of 6689 pregnancy planners enrolled between March 2016 and January 2020.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO) is an ongoing pre-conception cohort study of pregnancy planners (age, 21-45 years) from the USA and Canada. We estimated fecundability ratios (FR) for maternal age at the participant's birth using multivariable proportional probabilities regression models.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Daughters of mothers ≥30 years were less likely to have previous pregnancies (or pregnancy attempts) or risk factors for infertility, although they were more likely to report that their mother had experienced problems conceiving. The proportion of participants with prior unplanned pregnancies, a birth before age 21, ≥3 cycles of attempt at study entry or no follow-up was greater among daughters of mothers <25 years. Compared with maternal age 25-29 years, FRs (95% CI) for maternal age <20, 20-24, 30-34, and ≥35 were 0.72 (0.61, 0.84), 0.92 (0.85, 1.00), 1.08 (1.00, 1.17), and 1.00 (0.89, 1.12), respectively.
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Although the examined covariates did not meaningfully affect the associations, we had limited information on the participants' mother. Differences by maternal age in reproductive history, infertility risk factors and loss to follow-up suggest that selection bias may partly explain our results.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Our finding that maternal age 35 years or older was not associated with daughter's fecundability is reassuring, considering the trend towards delayed childbirth. However, having been born to a young mother may be a marker of low fecundability among pregnancy planners.
STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): PRESTO was funded by NICHD Grants (R21-HD072326 and R01-HD086742) and has received in-kind donations from Swiss Precision Diagnostics, FertilityFriend.com, Kindara.com, and Sandstone Diagnostics. Dr Wise is a fibroid consultant for AbbVie, Inc.
