If I still get regular periods in my 40s, can I still get pregnant?

When Nikkiey asked Dr. Jaime Knopman, a double board certified reproductive endocrinologist and director of fertility preservation at CCRM Fertility in New York, about the biggest misconceptions women have about their fertility window, she named this one first: the belief that it just goes on and on. A regular cycle feels like proof that everything is still working. Dr. Knopman's point is that the period and the egg are two different things. She coined the phrase "menses does not equal motherhood" during her fellowship to make exactly that point.

So a period on schedule tells you your cycle is still running. It does not tell you that the eggs you're releasing are of a quality that would translate into a healthy pregnancy. Dr. Knopman says that by later in life, egg quality can be so far reduced that it wouldn't.

Nikkiey followed up with the question many women ask next: can you improve egg quality, and do stress or burnout play a role? Dr. Knopman said we're an amalgamation of many factors, but the primary driver is genetics. She shared her own experience with breast cancer at a young age despite eating well and exercising, as an example of how we can't overrun our genetics. She was clear that being healthy still matters, because a healthier body supports a healthier pregnancy. But she pushed back on the idea that eating right or taking the right supplement can reverse what genetics sets in motion.

If you're in your 40s and wondering what your own cycle means for pregnancy, whether you're hoping to conceive or not, that's a conversation to have with your doctor or a fertility specialist. The episode's message is simply this: don't read a regular period as a guarantee either way. It's information, not the whole picture.