Leslie Carol Botha: Delaying motherhood until women are supposed to be grandmothers is frightening at best. Wonder what Mother Nature will say about this one? The London Telegraph profiled seven women who have given birth in their 60s and 70s. Classic case of technology manipulating women’s bodies.
Putting menopause on ice
BioEdge
Michael Cook
July 6, 2012
Women could remain fertile indefinitely if they freeze slices of ovaries, IVF doctors believe. Although the idea is controversial, it appears to work. With its help, women could work well into their 40s before having children. Doctors at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) conference in Turkey this week said that 28 babies have been born to women who either had their own ovarian tissue removed before cancer treatment and replaced afterwards or who received ovarian tissue from a twin. Most of the children were conceived naturally.
One of the leading supporters for this treatment is Dr Sherman Silber, an American surgeon, from St Louis, Missouri. He told the London Telegraph: “A woman born today has a 50 per cent chance of living to 100. That means they are going to be spending half of their lives post-menopause. But you could have grafts removed as a young woman and then have the first replaced as you approach menopausal age. You could then put a slice back every decade.
“Some women might want to go through the menopause, but others might not.”
