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BOOKS
The Fertility Clock
By Age 35 a Woman Only Has 12% of Her Eggs Left
by Daphney Washington-Grier
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about women freezing their eggs. Why? According to Dr. Melvin Thornton, OB/GYN and specialist on female reproduction, “women need to freeze their eggs because they are getting married later in life, and by the time they get ready to conceive, they may not be able to because of the reduced amount of eggs they have in the body
In this society, we still think of a 35 year-old as being young. At 35, a woman only has 12% of her eggs left. (see the fertility chart next page) Dr. Thornton recommends freezing the eggs until the woman has found a husband or partner who wants to have a child. Otherwise, the woman may be left with very few options. The chances of having a baby after 40 the natural way are very slim because of the reduced number of eggs. Their are exceptions to all cases though.
The idea of freezing eggs originally came about as a way to help women who had cancer and were going through chemotherapy. Chemotherapy kills eggs in women and can also bring on early menopause. According to Dr. Thornton, “chemotherapy can throw a woman into early menopause.” Menopause happens when the woman’s eggs have been drastically reduced. Dr. Thornton said that smoking, also can reduce the number of eggs in the body.
New technology allows women to not only freeze their eggs, but they can also freeze their embryos? Embryos? Yes. The eggs are injected with sperm and then frozen. These embryos can be frozen indefinitely and when the woman is ready to conceive, she will have the embryo injected into the uterus. This way, she will experience a full term pregnancy. If you don’t have a man, you can get a sperm donor. To date, more than 200,000 births have happened this way, while only 2,000 births have occurred through freezing eggs. The procedure was invented by Dr. Robert Edwards of England. “It’s best to freeze your eggs when you are younger. These eggs have a better chance of survival and being good eggs by which you can produce a child,”the reproductive specialist explained.
QUESTION: IS THIS ETHICAL, ARE YOU PLAYING GOD?
According to Dr. Thornton, “a lot of people feel we are playing God. I feel that God gave us the technology to help women conceive.” For more information about freezing eggs, you can contact Dr. Thornton at Columbia University Center for Reproductive Health at (646)756-8294.
