Older women and the challenge of IVF
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Pitkä kuuma kesä on keskisen kyläkaupan. Suomen kesän paras lasten tapahtuma on Miljoona Tivoli. 52 päivää iloa ja riemua. Kyläkauppa tarjoaa Tivoli Sarjola päiväranneket ilmaiseksi kaikille alle 13-vuotiaille lapsille. Sinne siis lähdetään, missä ilmaiseksi iloita saadaan. Siis kyläkauppaan. Suomen paras kauppa on. Kaikki la kauppa on verraton.
Hello, I'm James Reynolds. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. In BBC Conversations, we bring people together to share their experiences. This time, women discuss the physical challenges, heartbreak and guilt of failed IVF treatment in later life. On the 25th of July 1978, a baby was born, one of many that day. But this one was different. This one changed fertility medicine forever. Louise Joy Brown had been conceived using IVF, in vitro fertilisation. Since then, an estimated 13 million children around the world have owed their lives to IVF. Now, though, new research suggests that women in their late 40s face a much lower chance of fertility treatment working even when they use younger donor eggs.
Later, we'll hear from three doctors who specialise in fertility treatment. But our first conversation is with women who've each tried to become mothers through fertility treatment, ultimately, though, without success. Dee is in Dublin. Jackie and Lana are in the United States. Lana began by describing the experiences that led to her seeking medical help.
I was 35 when I got married, and up until that time, I just assumed motherhood would be part of my story. I just thought when the time came right and I met my husband that things would start to fall into place. But at age 37, I was diagnosed with something called unexplained infertility, and I think that was probably one of the most jarring experiences starts to finding out that you needed assistance because I felt like the medical system didn't really have a clear map ahead for me. But despite that, my husband and I decided to start pursuing treatment. We started with IUIs, the interuterine insemination. And after several attempts of that, we made the decision to move on to IVF and did some IVFs here in Chicago and never once had a positive pregnancy test and took about a year and a half break and then did some research and moved on to a clinic, gosh, about eight
a four-hour plane ride from where we live and did some remote IVF there because it had the best reputation. And we thought, if we're going to do this again, I was in my 40s. We knew our chances were slim. We wanted to go to a clinic that had a great reputation. But despite having the best doctors and the best clinic, I again never once had a positive pregnancy test.
At what point did stopping seem like the right decision?
Well, I don't know that it ever felt like a right decision, but rationally, I was 44. I had only one frozen embryo through this whole journey that at the end, we decided to get tested to see if it's worth implanting. And we were told that it would never result in a full-term pregnancy. And at that point, we had to look ourselves in the mirror and just be honest with the fact that our goals for parenthood at 44 weren't the same as they were when we I started this journey at 37. And the friends that I thought I was going to raise children with were already moms and kids were already in school. My niece and nephew were older. And, you know, I just had dreams of my kids having cousins their age. And I just had to reassess the milestones that I dreamed of exploring just look different in my 40s.
And My reproductive endocrinologist had a very frank conversation with us and said, you can continue if you want to do more rounds. We'll support you and continue that journey, but you'll likely expect to have the same outcome. And it was really the thing that made us stop and decide that this is not going to be something we're going to continue to do.
What kind of care did you get afterwards?
None, nothing. And I think that was probably the hardest thing to digest because...
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:49
2
How did IVF begin and how many babies have been born because of it?
5:49–9:43
3
What recent research suggests donor eggs may not fully reset fertility in older women?
9:43–12:21
4
What personal experiences did Lana share about unexplained infertility and IVF?
12:21–22:18
5
Why did Lana decide to stop treatment and what follow-up care did she receive?
22:18–25:50