A quarter of women in the UK wish they had tried to start a family earlier, according to a new survey of women.

The poll of more than 3,000 women aged 28 to 45 found 24pc regretted having waited so long, and 17 per cent were worried about being too old to conceive, the Daily Telegraph reports.

In addition, almost one in 10 (nine per cent) had already resorted to fertility treatment because they had found it difficult to conceive naturally while 20pc wanted to have a child so much they said they would consider purposefully becoming a single mother, either through donor sperm or another route.

According to the results of the 2012 Modern Motherhood Report, commissioned by Red magazine, more than three-quarters who had undergone fertility treatment had paid for some or all of it themselves.

The Red survey found the average spend on fertility treatment was £7,236, with some spending more than £15,000.

Women’s fertility falls rapidly after 35 and while IVF improves the chance of conceiving in one’s late 30s and 40s, it is no guarantee of success. IVF pregnancy rates also fall fast with age. Male infertility, although less associated with age, is also a growing problem.

Brigid Moss, health director at Red, said their finding that a fifth of respondents would consider becoming a single parent showed that “for some women, having a child is as important as, or more so, than a relationship”.

Another fifth have thought seriously about freezing their eggs so they could have children later on.

Crucially 54 per cent said that being ‘emotionally infertile’ – not being able to have children because they didn’t have a partner – was as painful as being medically infertile.

This included one in six – 15 per cent – who had split up as a result.

Ms Moss said: ‘We have identified what we call emotional infertility, that is being childless not by choice, due to not having a partner or a partner not wanting to have children.

‘We all know someone in this position. A doctor can’t help with emotional infertility.

‘It’s become more acceptable to talk  about medical infertility with your friends and family, so women can now be more open about that. But it must be very hard to confess that you’re desperate for a baby, but haven’t met anyone.

‘Every few months, there’s another warning from the medical profession that the best time to conceive is under 35. But this report has shown that often, at the right biological time, women are simply not in the right place emotionally or financially to start trying.’

Dr Mark Sedler, of Care Fertility, a Manchester IVF clinic, said too many women did not understand how their biological clocks made it harder to get pregnant with age.

He was not surprised that one in 10 said they had undergone fertility treatment, saying: “Patients are coming to us earlier than before, after trying to conceive naturally for a shorter period.

“They are saying ‘I at least need to know what’s going on.’

“I think it’s better to be investigated earlier rather than late, and wasting precious time.”

Other findings of the study included:

• Fertility treatment is more stressful than the recession – 59% found it more stressful than dealing with financial concerns.
• 40% find the process more distressing than the ending of a relationship.
• Three in four (71%) found it more stressful than moving house.
• Nearly two thirds (62%) found fertility treatment more stressful than being made redundant.
• A third of women (36%) said that fertility problems made them depressed with 2% even signing off work due to stress /mental health problems.
• Nearly half of women (47%) said their husbands found it hard to cope when they were not getting pregnant.