Miracle Blog

A Woman’s Biological Clock Keeps Ticking Over 50

A new study published in last month’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows a women's biological clock in a new light. The study concluded that women over the age of 50 can try to become pregnant if they use In-Vitro Fertilization and donated eggs.

Drs. Hummel and Kettel, offering one of the largest egg donation programs in California, confirm that the pregnancy rates of their female patients over 40 using egg donation is similar to the age of the egg donor. "Pregnancy rates depend on the quality of the egg which in case of egg donation comes from a woman in her twenties", states Dr. Hummel, "The fact that the woman is post-menopausal has no negative effect on pregnancy success, but may effect her health."

Drs. Hummel and Kettel inform their patients about health risks, which significantly increase with pregnancy for all women over age 50. Because of the increased risks of preeclamsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension) and gestational diabetes, Drs. Hummel and Kettel help only women below 50 years of age to achieve pregnancy. "The risks endanger the health of the patient to an extent we recommend egg donation with surrogacy for women over the age of 51," says Dr. Kettel.

Although the study redefines a woman's biological clock, it doesn't address any issues the woman has to deal with once the baby is born. The woman has to be aware that raising a child takes a lot of energy and she will be older than many other mothers. In some cases, she may be in her seventies when her child enters college.