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Chance of Chromosome Differences Based on Age


Trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 can happen at any age. The chance increases as the pregnant individual gets older, as shown in the table below. For example, a 29 year old has a 1 in 1095 chance (approximately 0.1%) to have a baby with trisomy 21. At age 40, the chance increases to 1 in 98 (approximately 1%)

Chance of Chromosome Differences based on Age 

Age of Pregnant Individual / Age of Egg Donor * Chance of Trisomy 21 (at birth) Chance of Trisomy 18 (at birth)
 21  1/1470 1/15291
22 1/1452 1/15038
23 1/1430 1/14684
24 1/1400 1/14245
 25 1/1362 1/13699
26 1/1315 1/13055
27 1/1255 1/12270
28 1/1182 1/11351
29 1/1095 1/10341
30 1/994

1/9234

31 1/881 1/8084
32 1/759 1/6935
33 1/634 1/5831
34 1/513 1/4812
35 1/403 1/3905
36  1/308 1/3121
37 1/231 1/2463
38 1/172  1/1923
39 1/129 1/1489
40 1/98 1/1145
41 1/76 1/875
42 1/61 1/667
43 1/50  1/506
44 1/43 1/383
45 1/38 1/289

*Ages at expected time of birth. 

Adapted from: JK Morris and NJ Wald. J Med Screen 2007;14:5-7

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