THE?WORLD has been seeing a societal change where women are delaying childbearing for many reasons, the major one being to build a career and a professional life. The resultant success is no doubt satisfying, but as the biological clock ticks away, these women may also be risking their ability to get pregnant.
Barbadian fertility expert Dr Juliette Skinner says infertility is a worldwide problem, quoting statistics which indicate that one in six couples will suffer from infertility and will need assistance in conceiving their children. In developed countries it is one in four; in developing countries, one in six.
And Skinner wants to create awareness that the underlying causes of infertility increase “dramatically” as the woman ages.
“I cannot emphasise the importance of women being aware of the impact of age on fertility,” Skinner, a consultant gynaecologist, told EASY Magazine.
“From the late twenties to early thirties, fertility will drop naturally. For example, between 35 and 40 the likelihood of pregancy drops by half and that continues to plummet in the 40s. Ultimately patients are not aware of that information.”
Instead she advises: “In the event that you are trying and not achieving a pregnancy, it is time to seek expert assistance and get proper care.” It is at this point that couples can often be assisted by fertility experts like Skinner, who has consulted with and treated “thousands” from Barbados and from as far away as South Africa, through the Barbados Fertility Centre.
She sees or consults 40 to 60 new couples per month from around the world who contact her for evaluation and advice, with overseas couples coming here for in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
“In the event that you have been trying and have not been successful in achieving a pregnancy then it certainly is time to seek expert assistance and get proper care,” Skinner states, adding that “at age 38 or 39 you may be young, but in fact you are in the declining age of fertility.”
“One of the important things to emphasise is when is it long enough to try and the advice is that the definition of infertility is any couple not achieving pregnancy within one year of trying to do so. In fact, after the age of 35 the current advice is after six months of trying, investigations and evaluations should be done because many of those couples may well need assistance and because of the impact of time it is better to seek treatment early.”
In vitro fertilisation is the process whereby eggs are taken from the body, fertlised with sperm, embryos are grown in a laboratory and then implanted in the uterus.
Blocked fallopian tubes, low sperm count, endometriosis are some of the reasons why people turn to IVF Treatment at the Barbados Fertility Centre. Dr Skinner explained the whole process involves about six weeks of treatment from the day the patient starts any medication to the day of the embryo transfer.
People from Europe, South Africa, United States, England, Ireland, Canada, and the Caribbean have sought the treatment in Barbados and according to Dr Skinner, overseas patients are here for approximately ten days to two weeks of the six weeks it takes to be treated.
Women as young as in their twenties have sought fertility treatment, the average age being around 38 – but, Dr Skinner stresses, the cut-off age is 50.
“If someone comes in to see me at 46 or 47, it does not matter what perhaps is the background reason for their not conceiving over 20-odd years, because the only option of treatment at that point actually will be donor eggs.”
The Barbados Fertility Centre has favourable success rates, but Dr Skinner is quick to point out this is relative and depends on the age of the woman. She says the best category of patient is the woman under 35 who tends to have the best-quality embryos.
In the 40s, however, results are “mixed”, with an average success rate only about 25 per cent by the age of 42.
