Lose the IVF delusion
(sz) The rise in fertility treatment for the over-40s exposes the cons about conception.
Money can’t buy you love and, more often than not, it can’t buy you a baby either - at least not one that you can carry in your forty year old womb. Still, there’s no keeping a good market down. So, it’s not much of a surprise that the number of women undergoing fertility treatment in their forties has increased tenfold in fifteen years according to figures released by the government’s fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
In numbers, the impact is more modest. In 1991, fewer than 600 women in their forties were given in vitro fertilisation (IVF). By last year, the figure had risen to 6,000. All will have forked out between £3,000 to £8,000 per cycle, since IVF on the NHS is only available to women who are younger.
In return for their money, women aged 40-42 have a one in ten chance of conceiving. While nine out of ten of those aged 44 or older will go home childless and with a lot less money in the bank.
Given that the list of possible reasons why conception is being delayed is unlikely to change, the army of middle-aged would-be mothers, resorting to IVF, is likely to continue to swell no matter how many cradles fail to be filled. more…
From: »The Guardain Unlimited« (comments)