Daljinder Kaur,
a 70-year old Indian woman, has just given birth to her first child who was
conceived in-vitro by IVF with egg donation from a fertility clinic.
The mother
purportedly declared: « When we saw the IVF advert, we thought we should also
give it a try as I badly wanted to have a baby».
This is the
country’s second case of pregnancy to a mother at a very advanced age; in 2008
a 72-year old woman in the State of Uttar Pradesh gave birth to twins following
IVF.
In countries
where there are no limits for having recourse to ART, a “procreative tourism”
is developing and a form of “right to a child”, even for postmenopausal women.
Last year, a 65-year old German woman gave birth to very premature quadruplets,
conceived by IVF with donor gametes in the Ukrainian clinic BioTexCom. Besides the health risks
for the mother as well as for the baby that are associated with late age
pregnancy, such practices raise questions about the lack of concern for the child’s
interest, born from a donor to an elderly couple thus resulting in the
substantial likelihood of becoming an orphan at an early age.
You know, I really DON'T understand why people are opting for treatments at such age! This is really unreasonable! Moreover is it about the babies' upbringing? Definitely no. 'cause there's sth around 10 yrs which might be dedicated to your kid if you've given birth at 72. Then the baby turns 10 yrs old. and practically is left alone with no parents' love, care and support..what for? tell me, guys, what for? 'cause an old couple once decides they'd love to remember youth and have a baby?!! It's ridiculous! Repro centers shouldn't alow such approach. I mean they shouldn't take people at 72 yrs old into their treatment programs. This is so unreasonable!
ReplyDeleteWell, a fertility center isn't the only one who decides over the question. It's far more a personal decision. A couple may tell a clinic they want 3 or 4 embies to be placed back. And if a clinic practices this and a care provider says there are no specific risks to that very couple they just do it! What for? - noone knows. I really don't think having multiples being THAT ripe has more benefits then cons. Who's going to raise your kids if you're 72 yo??! Again this is my point of view. I'm 46 yo now, currently 9,6 weeks prego with DE ivf bean.
DeleteExactly! Was thinking the same. I really doubt I could be a good mother at 70 yrs old. Seems too ripe for that, doesn't it..Well, 10-20 more years spent with a kid and what's then..Leaving him with no parental support ever. This must be a difficult decision to make!
DeleteOh my, I'll never get this!! Sadly, your ovaries do not care if you are a vegan, gluten-free marathoner. Each woman is born with a finite number of eggs. With age, both the number and quality of these eggs decreases. Obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes can further impede your ability to get pregnant. These issues can increase the risk of miscarriage. They can cause complications during the pregnancy itself. Staying healthy is important to maximize your chances of conceiving and help you have a healthier pregnancy. But diet and exercise alone cannot fully overcome the effects of aging on the ovary.
ReplyDeleteYou may be wondering if these numbers are all doom and gloom. Why does it seem like there are so many fabulous forty-somethings with babies at the playground? While a ten percent chance per year of conceiving seems low, there is a significant portion of the population in their forties. So there are still a lot of women getting pregnant and having normal healthy pregnancies in their forties. Another consideration is that a majority of women undergoing fertility treatments over the age of 40 use eggs from egg donors. All the fertility and complication rates are tied to the age of the eggs. So if younger eggs were used then odds of healthy pregnancy go up significantly. This is performed through IVF. which can be an expensive and exhausting process.
As age increases, so does the risk of miscarriage and pregnancy complications. While the rate of early pregnancy loss is around 15-20% for women under 30. It begins to increase at the age of 35. By age 40, the miscarriage rate is 40-50%. The risk of a baby having Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities is also directly related to the level of ''maturity'' of the mother. The risk rises gradually with age, until age 35. Then the risk increases more rapidly. At age 35, the risk of Down syndrome is 1/350 – but by 45, the risk approaches 1/35. We also see a slight increased incidence of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, C-section, and stillbirth in moms over the age 40. So additional ultrasounds and testing are often ordered in older moms.
Oh, God! It's really awsome! Wishing best of health to newbie parents to bring the baby up. I'm not sure this is the right age for ivf. But they are blessed to have conceived and finally have given birth to a healthy baby. I'm surprised and glad for the things madicine can do nowadays. Let it be this easy for most infertile couples.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's complicated. I'm not going to judge here but it's clear that having a toddler underfoot in your early 20s is quite different from having one in the house at 50 or 72. The younger mother may have more energy. The older one often has more wisdom and money. But the experience of midlife pregnancy is largely positive for women who have experienced it. I really don't know what else should be added. The least is to wish them health for upbringing their kid.
ReplyDeleteKnow what..I've always wondered what surrogates may feel. Developing an emotional bond with a baby during pregnancy and knowing that you will soon hand her/him over to another woman..I guess this can result in confusion, sadness, anger..whatever! During the nine months of gestation, she becomes emotionally attached to the baby growing inside her. I'm sure for some women, giving the baby up after birth may present a loss too challenging to overcome without outside help. Moreover surrogacy legal aspects differ much from country to country. In the US, for ex., intended parents have no legal right to claim the baby as their own. That may complicate the decision-making process for a surrogate who can't bear the thought of giving up the infant. Thankfully, as far as I know, this doesn't come to terms with Ukrainian law. So while being a surrogate mother has potential for a flood of negative emotions, I do believe it can still be a joyous occasion. Bringing a child into the world for someone else is an experience with which there might be no comparison.
ReplyDelete2ww has always been the hardest part of treatments for me. No injectibles, pills, surgeries made me feel as anxious as whilst dreadful 2ww. But one thing helped for sure - Watching comedies. A good laugh does help to get distracted. Yet another one - having someone to let off steam to. I suppose I'm unbearable in this rollercoaster.
What bothers with the US law is that in some states surrogate mothers retain a parental right to the child. She can even pursue custody!! Even though the embryos placed in the surrogate have both of your DNA, the surrogate mother’s name is on the birth certificate! And then you have to go through the process of adopting the baby in court! One of the biggest factors is also time. All of the legal paperwork, signing a contract, matching a surrogate, having the surrogate go through the work-up, and so on, and next thing you know..It’s been a year or two since you started the process! One additional fact is that a couple can pay the surrogate directly. This assures that they are being paid well for their efforts and aren’t abused by the agency. As far as I know, the average monthly income for Ukraine is around $200. So I believe the compensation can make better changes into their lives. Many ladies here will say it's immoral to offer being a surrogate for money. But here I won't agree. Ladies should be compensated for that they are going through as it's done in a cough. Coming back to Ukrainian legislation favourable for intended parents. In Ukraine the baby is yours from the moment conceived!! A surrogate has no rights to hold your baby after delivery. So keeping babies by surrogates after they are born is just out of the question. Which does set one's mind in peace. Again in the UK for example, the woman who gives birth is always treated as the mother in UK law and has the right to keep the child. Even if they’re not genetically related. However, parenthood can be transferred by parental order or adoption. Also surrogacy contracts aren’t enforced by UK law. (Even if you’ve a signed deal with your surrogate and have paid for her expenses!)It’s illegal to pay a surrogate in the UK, except for their reasonable expenses. As for father’s rights. The child’s legal father or ‘second parent’ will be the surrogate’s husband or partner unless: legal rights are given to someone else through a parental order or adoption. Or the surrogate’s husband or civil partner didn’t give their permission to their wife or partner.(If your surrogate has no partner, or they’re unmarried and not in a civil partnership, the child will have no legal father or second parent unless the partner actively consents.) This all is really terrifying for me!
ReplyDeleteBeing pregnant with more than 1 baby is exciting and is often a happy event for many couples. However, multiple pregnancy has increased risks for complications. The most common complications include the following:
ReplyDeletePreterm labor and birth. Over 60% of twins and nearly all higher-order multiples are premature (born before 37 weeks). The higher the number of fetuses in the pregnancy, the greater the risk for early birth. Premature babies are born before their bodies and organ systems have completely matured. These babies are often small, with low birthweights (less than 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds), and they may need help breathing, eating, fighting infection, and staying warm. Very premature babies, those born before 28 weeks, are especially vulnerable. Many of their organs may not be ready for life outside the mother's uterus and may be too immature to function well. Many multiple birth babies will need care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Gestational hypertension. Women with multiple fetuses are more than twice as likely to develop high blood pressure of pregnancy. This condition often develops earlier and is more severe than pregnancy with one baby. It can also increase the chance of placental abruption (early detachment of the placenta).
Anemia. Anemia is more than twice as common in multiple pregnancies as in a single birth.
Birth defects. Multiple birth babies have about twice the risk of congenital (present at birth) abnormalities including neural tube defects (like spina bifida), gastrointestinal, and heart abnormalities.
Miscarriage. A phenomenon called the vanishing twin syndrome in which more than 1 fetus is diagnosed, but vanishes (or is miscarried), usually in the first trimester, is more likely in multiple pregnancies. This may or may not be accompanied by bleeding. The risk of pregnancy loss is increased in later trimesters as well.
Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is a condition of the placenta that develops only with identical twins that share a placenta. Blood vessels connect within the placenta and divert blood from one fetus to the other. It happens in about 15% of twins with a shared placenta.
I'm just asking myself if all this is endurable for a 65 yo woman's body?..
I wouldn't do this! If I were 70+ I wouldn't be planning more kids of my own! This is so unreasonable! I'm not here to judge or say some bad things. But such approach should not be supported within countries performing ART treatments. Too little time is left for the kids' upbringing in this case. I really doubt the efforts are worthy in such situation. Absolutely weird..
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to IVF, the age of the eggs is more important than the age of the woman having IVF treatment. The quality and quantity of a woman’s eggs, known as her ovarian reserve, begin to get worse as she gets older. This affects her chances of success with IVF as well. On average, only about 25 percent of transferred embryos go on to result in live births of babies. But this greatly depends on the age of the woman’s eggs. Women under 35 using their own eggs for IVF have an implantation rate of about 45 percent. Women 40 to 42 years old using their own eggs have only about a 15 percent chance of implantation.
ReplyDeleteOlder women who use donor eggs, which are donated by younger women, have success rates with IVF that are nearly the same as those of younger women. Egg quality is all-important to having healthy embryos, and younger eggs usually have better quality.
I had to apply for donor eggs too, in Biotexcom. This path only brought us long awaited success.