The fertility of older women

 

 Many of the patients who come to our IVF clinic are older couples who have married in the recent past. The wife’s age is typically above 35 and the husband is above 40 years of age. Most of these couples are dynamic career oriented professionals who are very busy due to their work commitments and have only little time for their personal life. For many of them, getting married was a low priority in their life.  However, once they have found the right spouse ( thanks to help from  matrimonial websites or family or friends), after getting married , they have to decide whether they want to have kids or not. 

When they start thinking about this, many older women realize that their biological clock has ticked on, which means it won’t be as easy for them to conceive as compared to younger couples. For most women, this is a sudden wakeup call . They are very used to being successful in their careers and life , and they usually have managed to achieve what they desire. These women also naturally assume that now that they have found their prince charming, they will be able to naturally progress to the next level of having their own kids - and that this will fall into places as naturally as all their career successes have.  After all, they just need to work at it to get what they want ! However, when they find out that their eggs are not in the best form to allow them to have a baby, this  comes as a rude shock , which they aren’t prepared for. 

The surprising part is that many of these women have a strong desire to become a mother . This lust for babies is a very powerful craving , which is why they seek medical help. These women are usually the ones who don’t think about have kids when they were younger. But as their biological clock passes by, the urge to become a mother becomes an obsession for them. 

For IVF doctors, these patients are very satisfying to deal with, because these couples are well-informed and educated .  They are understanding and mature, and because they have faced a lot in life , they are able to make the right decisions for themselves.

For an interesting debate about the pros and cons of older women having babies, please read the debate pn the New York magazine article at http://bitchmagazine.org/post/bringing-up-baby-motherhood-as-the-dream-deferred
 

Worried that your biological clock has left you behind and that your eggs are too old ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !