'I looked at freezing eggs, but it just wasn't an option because of the money it would cost. I was told that the success rates were low, but if you're in the position that I was in and it is your last option, then you just accept that it is a last resort. You think, I'll give it a shot - but basically I couldn't afford it: Suson, 34
Frozen eggs have been touted in the media as the solution to all women's age-related fertility problems. It has been suggested that any woman who knows that having children is really important to her should consider freezing some of her eggs while she is young to allow her to delay motherhood until she is ready.
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| Secondary Infertility Causes |
It sounds fantastic. You freeze a batch of eggs in your twenties when they are still young and fresh, you build your career, buy your home, meet the right man and maybe wait to have your babies until your forties. The problem is that egg freezing is still a new science. Until very recently most eggs didn't survive the freezing and thawing process, as they are much more fragile than embryos. New techniques are being developed, and some clinics are reporting much better outcomes with frozen eggs, and are also freezing ovarian tissue as an alternative.
However, egg and ovarian-tissue freezing are expensive procedures, involve invasive medical techniques and are not particularly likely to succeed. They may offer hope to women who know their fertility is likely to be compromised by cancer treatment, or who are expecting to go through a hereditary premature menopause, but they can't be used as a guarantee of a child in the future.
Boosting Your Fertility Naturally
Whether you have decided you're ready to get pregnant and want to improve your chances of conceiving, or whether you're more interested in preserving your reproductive system for as long as you possibly can, there are some things you can do that may help. Although we may not be able to halt the pace of our biological clock, which was set at birth, we certainly can make sure our lifestyle choices aren't speeding it up.
Where your choices matter
We may be able to influence our fertility by making some quite simple changes to our lives. How much attention we pay to our health, what we eat and drink, and what we do at work and in our spare time can all make a difference.
Smoking
If you are a smoker, giving up is one of' the most important things you can do to help increase your chances of getting pregnant and improve your fertility. Women who smoke often take longer to conceive, and smoking can affect your ovarian reserve, reducing egg quality and quantity.
Women smokers are twice as likely to have fertility problems as non-smokers. On average, women who smoke reach the menopause two years earlier than non-smokers, and they are more likely to have an early menopause.
One study has suggested smoking can shorten a woman's reproductive life by ten years. What's more, it's not just your own smoking that can affect your fertility - if your partner smokes, that can cause problems too. Women who live with a smoker have been shown to take longer to get pregnant.
The dangers of smoking once you get pregnant are very clear-cut. Women who smoke expose their babies to tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen and the level of nutrients that reach the baby, and pregnant women who smoke increase their risk of having a miscarriage. Their babies are more likely to be underweight, premature or to die in infancy. There is a link between smoking and breathing problems in young babies, and with cot death.
Many women who smoke intend to give up once they get pregnant, and it makes sense to cut out cigarettes as soon as you start thinking seriously about trying to have a baby. The good news is that if you do stop smoking, after just a year of abstinence your chances of conceiving are thought to be as good as those of women who have never smoked. To find out more, you can check out Secondary Infertility Causes.
