With approximately 30 million infertility cases in India, the stigma of being ‘childless’ is often placed on women more than men. As infertility can impact anyone, being proactive about your fertility is one of the most empowering decisions, and should be taken by every women. With assisted reproduction coming into the picture, many single women are paving their own paths to planned parenthood.
Dr. Gautam Allahbadia – IVF empowering Indian Women
With approximately 30 million infertility cases in India, the stigma of being ‘childless’ is often placed on women more than men. As infertility can impact anyone, being proactive about your fertility is one of the most empowering decisions, and should be taken by every women. With assisted reproduction coming into the picture, many single women are paving their own paths to planned parenthood.
Assisted reproduction is now not just seen as the last resort, but ranks high on the preference list of the ‘women of today’, who want to live and bear children on their own terms. Dr Gautam Allahbadia, a Mumbai-based IVF expert opines that before thinking about fertility preservation, the patient should have an accurate picture about her needs and her current fertility status.
A successful Reproductive Endocrinology & IVF Consultant for almost three decades, Dr Gautam Allahbadia has seen more and more women actively opt for modern fertility preservation techniques over the time. “We see working single women who wish to freeze their eggs, women going past their 30’s or, some who were told that they were unlikely to conceive due to Endometriosis or Tuberculosis, or just simply couples who want to get pregnant but are having hard luck, come by our doors to seek different fertility treatments. Crediting the technological advancements in modern reproductive sciences, we have been able to cater successfully to thousands of women, giving them the joy of becoming mothers to healthy children,” says Dr Allahbadia.
Looking at the extended life choices brought by egg freezing , women speak up about how it has helped shaped their lives. “I am under no illusions. But I feel a new confidence about the future now that I have bought myself both time and hope. I now have the option of having a child on my own in my 40s ‘I’m so glad I’ve frozen my eggs’, says Celia McBride, who recently got her eggs frozen.
Another working professional, Shalini Pathak, who has opted for egg freezing says “I’m happy that women have the freedom to delay having children during, arguably, the most important time for career enhancement. I used to think my single male friends were so fortunate for their genetic makeup…And now I can choose that.”
Dr Jaime Knopman, a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist talks about conceiving through ART stating, “Most of the success of IVF is based on the female. The younger you are when you make the embryos, the better the chance those embryos are going to be viable and lead to a viable pregnancy.”
Therefore, the general consensus is that the younger you freeze your eggs, better the chances for you to conceive in the later life stages. There are, however, other options available too, such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) with donor sperm, In vitro Fertilization (IVF) with donor sperm and/or donor eggs for women who want to parent a child independently but wait for a couple of years before getting pregnant.
Affirmations from the present day modern science have helped women from different walks of life get pregnant, and improve their reproductive health. That said, it is important to know your options so that you can make the best decision—for yourself, and for your future family. Consult your fertility specialist today know more about your options!
Trauma of being childless
The trauma of being childless has been acknowledged by medical reproductive sciences, and through technology, couples having discordance between fertility intentions and outcomes can have a strong chance at childbearing. Assisted reproduction techniques such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), have been able to remove the physical, cognitive and psychosocial consequences of infertility or unintended childlessness.
“Fertility treatment represents one of the great triumphs of modern medicine. Causes of infertility that were incurable just a generation ago are now readily corrected,” says medical expert and professor, Zev Williams.
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