Advanced Reproductive Age and Fertility

We live in an exciting time full of wonders. Advances of technology and science changed the very fabric of our existence. They made our life more convenient. The distances got shorter and information became readily available at one's fingertips. But there is more - now science can help to challenge the Nature herself and to say yes when she says no. One of such things is in-vitro fertilization, or IVF. At the beginning this technology was used mostly for impregnating younger women with premature ovarian failure (Grossman, Kort and Sauer). Later on, D-IVF emerged - a version of it that uses a donor egg was applied to treat perimenopausal and postmenopausal patients. First I will explain what menopause means in terms of physiological opportunities and decline of thereof. When a woman reaches puberty, her glands produce a full range of female hormones and her ovaries produce a least one mature egg every month. Ideally by the age of 25, woman’s body is physiologically ready for difficulties and hardships of pregnancy and childbirth. After approximately 40, the level of female hormone production starts to reduce and in another 10 years woman gradually loses ability to conceive a healthy baby and then runs out eggs. This means that she has passed her reproductive period and entered menopause; that's when the Nature says: ”You can not get pregnant anymore”. But today modern medical technology says: ”You can if you want to”. In this particular situation women past the age of 50 who want to get pregnant are first treated with high doses of female hormones to reverse menopause and trick the body into “thinking” it is still young. Then, there comes the magic of IVF. Because of decreased egg quality, which translates into increased risk of Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities, IVF technique uses donated eggs of younger women and becomes D-IVF. A few oocytes get fertilized by artificial insemination in a lab tube and after 3-5 days and a few divisions are