Women in their fifties and early sixties can safely carry a pregnancy to term, US research reveals.



Medical data was gathered on women receiving IVF treatment involving donor eggs at the University of Southern California. It showed that women aged 50 to 63 experienced more complications during pregnancy than those in their twenties. But the older women had very similar rates of becoming pregnant and of having a miscarriage, the team reports.



“Our data suggests there is not any definitive medical reason for excluding women over age 50 from attempting pregnancy on the basis of age alone,” says Richard Paulson, who led the study.