Annie
03-01-2007, 03:31 PM
Fertility more difficult than most realize, Canadian expert says
By Don Harrison, The Province
Published: Thursday, March 01, 2007
B.C.’s dramatic sextuplet birth aside, conceiving even a single child is more difficult than many anticipate. And experts say that co-production is getting harder.
Despite the recent spate of fawning publicity over celebrity mothers in their 40s, studies have shown that ‘reproductive aging’ is a undeniable fact not to be glossed over.
The fact is women over age 34 are 50 per cent less likely to conceive naturally than a 19-to-26 year old; yet over half of Canada’s births now occur to women over 34. And with over-34 births increasing from just six per cent of the total in 1975 to 25 per cent in 2005, experts predict the corollary trend of infertility will double its rate in 20 years.
That would be potentially worrying as Statistics Canada has already said the big baby boom generation in retirement will test the financing of the social system. A continuing decline in the country’s birth rate may threaten that safety network.
“Women have been misled by the portrayal of movie stars over 40 having children,” said Beverly Hanck, executive director of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada, but “their success is not only very expensive [by using fertility clinics] but may depend on donor eggs.”
Infertility, just one of the topics of at the annual Wellness Show running Friday through Sunday at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre, is not a rare problem. Defined as in inability to conceive within a year, it effects almost one in seven Canadian couples.
“First of all, women have to maintain their health,” said Dr. Al Yuzpe, co-director at Vancouver’s Genesis Fertility Centre, “whether they want to reproduce or not.”
But while declining male sexual ‘performance’ after 40 is a staple for standup comics, Yuzpe said “male fertility tends to wane far less rapidly” than in women.
The reasons for female infertility include age, ovulation disorders, blocked/damaged fallopian tubes or polycystic ovary syndrome.
“Not only does the chance of conception decrease with age,” added Yuzpe, “but miscarriage rates and the risk of genetic abnormalities increase” in aging women.
For males, infertility can can be caused by the quality and quantity of sperm production, abnormalities in sperm function, hormonal deficiency and environmental and lifestyle factors.
“Young women fail to realize their eggs have an ‘expiry date,’” Hanck concluded. “Realistically, couples should start planning families in their 20s.”
By Don Harrison, The Province
Published: Thursday, March 01, 2007
B.C.’s dramatic sextuplet birth aside, conceiving even a single child is more difficult than many anticipate. And experts say that co-production is getting harder.
Despite the recent spate of fawning publicity over celebrity mothers in their 40s, studies have shown that ‘reproductive aging’ is a undeniable fact not to be glossed over.
The fact is women over age 34 are 50 per cent less likely to conceive naturally than a 19-to-26 year old; yet over half of Canada’s births now occur to women over 34. And with over-34 births increasing from just six per cent of the total in 1975 to 25 per cent in 2005, experts predict the corollary trend of infertility will double its rate in 20 years.
That would be potentially worrying as Statistics Canada has already said the big baby boom generation in retirement will test the financing of the social system. A continuing decline in the country’s birth rate may threaten that safety network.
“Women have been misled by the portrayal of movie stars over 40 having children,” said Beverly Hanck, executive director of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada, but “their success is not only very expensive [by using fertility clinics] but may depend on donor eggs.”
Infertility, just one of the topics of at the annual Wellness Show running Friday through Sunday at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre, is not a rare problem. Defined as in inability to conceive within a year, it effects almost one in seven Canadian couples.
“First of all, women have to maintain their health,” said Dr. Al Yuzpe, co-director at Vancouver’s Genesis Fertility Centre, “whether they want to reproduce or not.”
But while declining male sexual ‘performance’ after 40 is a staple for standup comics, Yuzpe said “male fertility tends to wane far less rapidly” than in women.
The reasons for female infertility include age, ovulation disorders, blocked/damaged fallopian tubes or polycystic ovary syndrome.
“Not only does the chance of conception decrease with age,” added Yuzpe, “but miscarriage rates and the risk of genetic abnormalities increase” in aging women.
For males, infertility can can be caused by the quality and quantity of sperm production, abnormalities in sperm function, hormonal deficiency and environmental and lifestyle factors.
“Young women fail to realize their eggs have an ‘expiry date,’” Hanck concluded. “Realistically, couples should start planning families in their 20s.”