IVF cannot cure your age – have children earlier

The promise of in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a solution to infertility is misleading, according to two reproductive physicians writing in Dagens Nyheter. They argue that biological realities, particularly age, impose limits that advanced reproductive medicine cannot erase, and that society is failing young people by not addressing this.

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IVF cannot cure your age – have children earlier

"IVF cannot cure your age – have children earlier," the opinion piece urges, criticizing the narrative that frames fertility primarily in terms of choice and technology. The authors contend that it is "dishonest" to allow individuals to believe that all aspects of family planning can be postponed indefinitely. They highlight a societal deficit in understanding how fertility naturally declines with age, especially for women, where significant changes often become apparent from the mid-30s.

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It is dishonest to let young people believe that everything can be postponed.

The physicians point to the World Health Organization's (WHO) first global guidelines on infertility, which emphasize prevention and early diagnostics alongside treatment. They note that while about one in six people globally experience infertility, the public discourse often overlooks the fundamental biological constraints. The authors also reference a Swedish government press release from April 2026, acknowledging that involuntary childlessness affects 15-20% of couples and that fertility is influenced by age, lifestyle, and environment, with low public awareness.

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We live in a society where many know a lot about how to avoid pregnancy, but surprisingly little about how fertility actually works, how it changes with age, and how the possibility of pregnancy can be impaired. At the same time, we continue to talk about how advanced reproductive medicine can compensate for everything. It cannot.

This perspective challenges the prevailing focus on technological solutions, calling for a more grounded conversation about the realities of reproduction. The authors stress the need for "early knowledge, social security, and men who take their responsibility" in addition to medical support. They argue that a fertility rate of 1.42 children per woman, as seen in Sweden in 2025, is insufficient to maintain the population, contrasting it with the higher rates of the 1960s.

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Age plays a big role. For women's fertility, the decline generally becomes clearer from the mid-30s, and at age 40, spontaneous pregnancy is much harder for many to achieve. This is not moralism, conservatism, or an attempt to blame women. It is basic reproductive biology.