Natural conception after age 45 in Bedouin women, a uniquely fertile population

Women conceiving naturally and delivering after age 45 are an exceptionally fertile population that may serve as a model to identify factors associated with delayed reproductive aging. This work studies this phenomenon in Bedouin women.

The study is an observational retrospective analysis of all Bedouin women who conceived spontaneously and had their latest delivery after the age of 45 years, during the years 1995-2000 at the participating medical center. Complete histories of the outcomes of all pregnancies were collected.

133 of 34,519 (0.38%) Bedouin women gave birth after the age of 45 years. The mean maternal age at last delivery was 46+/-1.4 years (range: 45-52), and the mean parity was 11.6+/-2.9 children (range: 3-18). 96% were grandmultiparous (> or =6 deliveries). The mean spontaneous abortion rate (6.6%) was not affected by increased parity and was significantly lower than in the general population: 12.4% vs.17.7% at age 39, 5% vs. 33.8% (p < 0.001) at age 44 and 1.8% vs. 53.2% (p < 0.001) at age 45.

This unique group of Bedouin women may have a genetic predisposition to delayed ovarian and oocyte aging.