Women of today are leaving it later in life to conceive, with detrimental impact
on their physical, mental and emotional health, warns a leading IVF specialist
in Melbourne, adding that because of this couples are accessing IVF as their
only alternative to fall pregnant
Dr Jim Tsaltas, a specialist with Melbourne
IVF, and Head of the Gynaecological Endoscopy Unit at Monash Medical Centre and
Southern Health, said “this phenomenon has increased over the past 25
years”.
“Leaving childbearing until later does have consequences,” Dr Tsaltas
told Neos Kosmos, “as you get older, it becomes more difficult to
conceive.
Dr Tsaltas believes that women should consider having children
around the age of 30, should their circumstances allow them to, as after the age
of 35, fertility significantly declines. He said that the longer you wait, there
are also risks during the pregnancy such as foetal anomalies, high blood
pressure, miscarriage, prematurity and pre-eclampsia.
And, as couples wait
longer, more will require IVF just for age related infertility. IVF is also
accessed by couples for other reasons other than age such as endometriosis,
tubal disease and male infertility.
However, as an answer to age related
infertility, IVF comes with it’s own set of challenges, both physical and
emotional.
“The IVF process will definitely have a psychological impact on
the couple,” Dr Tsaltas said adding that the process as a whole can be very
stressful and counselling is available at all times and should be
encouraged.
Before IVF is considered as an option, a number of investigations
are done by medical professionals on both the male and female to see why couples
can’t conceive naturally.
“Prior to IVF depending on issues patients may
need surgery and may need fertility tablets. Another option for patients can be
ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination. If these fail or are not
appropriate then IVF is the only option,” said Dr Tsaltas.
The IVF process
beings with these investigations, police and child protection checks, nursing
appointment and counselling appointments.
The start of IVF begins with the
stimulation of the ovaries with hormone injection, then egg collection under
trans-vaginal ultrasound with light general anesthetic, the fertilisation of
eggs with sperm, the creation of embryo, the transfer of embryo into uterus
trans-vaginally (no anesthetic) and then the transfer of embryo occurs on day 2
or day 5 after egg collection.
“There is no limit as to how many times a
couple can do IVF,” says Dr Tsaltas.
“Regular consultations and evaluations
of patient outcomes to help determine how long to continue. It is very
individual.”