Self-inflicted Infertility – Or, the hazards of fat and age on YOUR eggs…

Reading an article about the declining birth rate in some areas of the world, I started to think about my experiences with pregnancy and childbirth, and what I’ve learned from my OB/GYN, who also happens to be a fertility specialist. I have three children, ages 3 years, 14  and 16. I had my daughter at 20, and my son two years later – no issues, no worries- it was easy. My latest addition was a different story. Although I was half-way through my weight loss journey, I was still  fat, and that created complications that were weight related – high blood pressure, swelling, etc. Getting ultrasounds were harder  due to excess abdominal fat, the epidural was very hard to get in, once again due to excess body tissue- FAT!

But, let’s start with the biggest stumbling block to fertility- AGE.

Women are waiting too long to have babies. Seriously, women are waiting until they are in their mid-thirties, and then sometimes it is getting too late for it ( getting pregnant) to happen with ease. Biologically, we weren’t meant to wait that long. You know what medical professionals call a pregnant woman over 35? A GERIATRIC PREGNANCY. They might not say it to your face but it’s damn sure to be written in your chart…lol… Your eggs have all been inside you since birth, and by now they are old and wrinkly, and sometimes defective.

Women tend to start menstruating in their mid-early teens, which biologically means you are ready to procreate- although God forbid you get pregnant when you’re still in highschool! Prime baby making time is in your early twenties, and while most women are going to school, starting their careers, their eggs really are starting to go downhill in quality.There comes the early thirties, maybe time to start thinking about marriage etc, but the careers going strong and women’s libbers would have us believe we can have it all – and technology can make anything happen, if nature can’t . Babies can wait.

Unfortunately, this is not  actually the case. A woman’s fertility is reduced by 50% at the age of 35- and goes steeply downhill after that. The eggs produces are often faulty, or contain defects due to the age, and the miscarriage rate in older pregnancies is extremely high. At 35, the risk of having a baby with downs syndrome is 1 in 500. At the age of 40, its 1 in 150- numbers vary with study, but they are all in that range. That might explain why there has been a surge in the number of children with learning disabilities and other problems- most of their mothers are much older the first time they have a baby, than women were 20 years ago. The egg quality just isn’t Grade A anymore, to be blunt., leading to problems for the unsuspecting child to be.

Women over 35 often take a long time to conceive, most go for genetic counselling to check for birth defects, and are more likely to have complicated pregnancies with a much higher cesarean rate .They are also the first to be surprised when all of this happens. “No one told me!” or ” I wish I would have known”.   Women have been fooled into thinking science can make anything happen, at any age, when the reality is that the cost and the effort involved is huge, and often heartbreaking, and can lead to the death of a relationship with stress , after stress, after stress.  No one talks about how long it took them to get pregnant, or how many miscarriages they endured- the waiting, the hoping, the heartbreak when it doesnt happen month after month after month.

The other big problem with fertility and pregnancy is obesity. Your body is meant to carry X amount of weight. When all the systems are strained by an excess amount of weight, hormone levels are often erratic and unstable, which can lead to difficulty getting pregnant. Fertility specialists will often refuse to treat an obese woman without weight loss because the hormone treatments will not have the same affect on an overweight body. If you are lucky enough to get pregnant, you will be more likely to have complications such a gestational diabetes,a high- birth weight baby, preterm labour, a very high rate of c-section, and infection. OB/GYN’s will tell you that being overweight or obese makes a c-section difficult and you are likely to have an infection or tear stitches that are stressed with weight of excess fat. Recovery will be harder and longer.

But no one tells you this either.

The efforts of modern science  in medicine can make miracles happen, but women need to be aware of the realities of baby making while they still have time to make an informed choice. I am happy I made the choice to have children when I did- it’s much easier keeping up with teens while I’m in my thiries, then if I were in my late forties or fifties. 

I’m Laila Yuile, and this is how I see it.