GEARING UP FOR THE SILVER STORK AGE

As intentional motherhood becomes the norm, a new demographic shift is quietly reshaping maternal care, fertility preservation, and insurance frameworks. Express Healthcare examines how healthcare players are responding to the implications of advanced maternal age pregnancies

- Neha Aathavale

More women are choosing motherhood on their own timelines, not the one mapped out for them decades ago. Across cities, more Indian women are delaying childbirth by choice, or circumstance. This quiet but definitive shift is reshaping the landscape of reproductive care. Fertility clinics are adapting. Insurance providers are taking notes. And employers are rethinking benefits.

However as this shift gains momentum, it comes with its own economic and clinical calculus. Fertility preservation options like egg freezing are moving from luxury to necessity. Insurers are slowly being nudged toward revisiting their coverage criteria. And healthcare providers are rethinking risk profiling and prenatal care strategies. But the pace and consistency of this evolution remain open questions. Which brings us to the heart of the matter: Is India's reproductive health and insurance systems keeping pace with the evolving realities of delayed motherhood.

The urban shift

Even as the idea of motherhood evolves across India's urban centres, fertility specialists are observing a steady rise in women actively pursuing pregnancy in their mid-to-late thirties. For many, this is a conscious, informed decision shaped by career, financial independence, and better awareness of assisted reproduction.

“The social and healthcare advancements of today have contributed to the increased trend of women giving birth at the age of 35+,” says Dr Madhu Juneja, Director - OBGY and IVF, Sahyadri Hospitals Momstory.

According to her, this trend is especially pronounced in cities where awareness and affordability of fertility treatment is higher. “This trend is more common in cities where women are knowledgeable about the available fertility treatments and are more financially stable,” she adds. “Despite the change in societal norms, the realisation of the challenges that come with trying to conceive when older is more widely accepted.”