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Women should start their family by the age of 35, leading fertility experts have advised.The medics and IVF researchers said that family planning shouldn’t be just about avoiding pregnancy - it must also tell women about the risks of delaying motherhood.

Without such information, those who are left childless could be ‘haunted’ by their decision to wait.
The Newcastle University experts also said women shouldn’t necessarily use their career as an excuse to delay motherhood – as working life doesn’t get easier with age.

And they questioned whether today’s couples are less willing to put up with financial hardship than previous generations.
Professor Mary Herbert, one of Britain’s leading reproductive biologists, said: ‘The most important message is for women to have their babies before the clock strikes 12.

The stark message, delivered at the British Science Festival comes as growing numbers of women wait to start a family.
Nearly half of all babies are now born to women aged 30 and older and the number of children born to women in their late 30s has almost trebled in recent years.

Britain’s biggest science conference heard that while some women will be lucky enough to become pregnant in their 40s or 50s, many face heartbreak.Fertility also falls sharply after the age of 35 and IVF far from guarantees a couple a child.
Those who do fall pregnant, face greater health risks than younger women – as do their unborn babies.