It’s a fact that 40 is the new 30, and Indian women are now aging much better. They are more conscious about their fitness and health; many hit the gym on a regular basis and make better lifestyle choices. And so, the Millenials are fitter and healthier than the previous generation, but the one area they have no influence over is their ovarian reserve. The truth is that regardless of how fit you are, you can’t reverse your ovarian biological clock & age-associated decline in your fertility.
Unforgiving Ovaries
Looks can be deceptive, and even if your skin can give a 25-year-old a run for her anti-aging creams, your ovaries can be quite unforgiving. It’s a fact that every woman is born with the number of eggs she is ever going to have. Once she is born, she cannot produce any new eggs; this is the reason her ovarian reserve gets progressively depleted, until she reaches menopause. All those organic foods she eats and the 100 laps that she swims every day are not going to alter this fact.
An Unfortunate Fact
This may seem unfortunate, but in my opinion, what is more unfortunate is that women do not seem to understand this . They just feel that if they are fit at 40, their fertility will be intact as well. They are lulled into a false sense of security for various reasons. They erroneously conclude that just because their cycles are regular, their reproductive system is also working fine and that they will be able to have a baby when they want to.
The media does its bit by highlighting stories of an impressive line-up of 40+ celebs who have had babies (there is no mention of the fact that the babies were made using donor eggs). The cumulative result of all these factors is that a vast majority of women in their thirties are now quite casually choosing to postponing childbearing, because they think they have plenty to time to find Mr. Right and settle down and start a family. Little do they realize that as their biological clock ticks on inexorably, their eggs get depleted, and their chances of being able to have a baby with their own eggs drop dramatically.
About Egg Freezing
Fortunately, current day technology provides a solution to pause the biological clock. However, a number of Indian women are still not aware that egg vitrification is now easily available in India. It’s expensive, but can be a very worthwhile investment for women who want to defer childbearing. Not only does it improve their chances of getting pregnant, it also reduces the risk of them having a baby with a birth defect.
The commonest reason for Down Syndrome in children born to older women is that the mothers have older eggs; this puts the children at higher risk of having genetic abnormalities. In any good IVF clinic, the egg vitrification process has very high success, with a 100% survival of eggs when they are thawed.
The Power of Options
I feel it’s best to keep as many options open as possible; the more options you have in life , the easier it becomes to make the right decisions. If you choose not to freeze your eggs, you are axing one of your options (and a very good one at that); this may compel you to make suboptimal choices in the future. Therefore, if a woman has frozen her eggs, she can afford to be picky about whom she marries. She doesn’t have to settle for the first guy who proposes, simply because her biological clock is ticking. As women get older, the craving to have a child can be surprisingly compelling and the ones who choose to have their eggs frozen are making a smart choice.
Extend your Biological Clock
Some women are gutsy enough to explore single-parenting options such as donor insemination; they are not really interested in getting married and having children with a husband. But these women are more an exception than a rule and our society in still conservative in this aspect; women are still expected to get married before they have babies. Opting for egg freezing allows women to extend their biological clock & buys them more time to find the right life partner. And no matter how long it takes for them to find “the” man, their eggs will remain young forever!
Look into the Future
If you are 30, having a baby might not be high on your priority list right now, but you should give a thought to whether you want to freeze your eggs (especially if your AMH level is low). Why get older, wiser and regret you did not use technology which gives you the power of choice to pause your clock ? “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been’” ― John Greenleaf Whittie
Need more information about egg freezing ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you better!
No comments:
Post a Comment