Posted by on June 06, 19100 at 14:42:23:
In Reply to: Cheryl Tiegs, for Drs posted by Madam on June 05, 19100 at 16:52:35:
I have been reading this thread with growing interest. ofcourse the continual parade of over 40 and 50 miracle mom's are touching off some emotion here! This is my take. Everyone is watching these stories. Fertile, infertile. Young and old. What messages are we sending to young women? That they are in control of their reproductive potential forever? That our eggs are just waiting for us? These stories of pregnancies that are achieved well past the age that the majority of us can conceive with our own eggs are misleading the public and the next generation of women. I appreciate people wanting some privacy in their lives, but public personalities live under a microscope and it seems besides the point. What these enthusiastic stories don't reveal, is what we (our patient community) already know, is that for many, if not most---post a certain age of high FSH, are not having these babies with their own eggs. This is a big deception if you consider that for most young girls and women, the inescapable conclusion is that you can have a baby pretty much any time you decide. As a patient advocate and educator, I find this very disturbing and upsetting. We are continuing to misinform the public and our women about their reproductive potential. We are not giving them the tools to make good decisions. Ofcourse, we do not have to point fingers about who is doing what, but we should be opening the conversation about how rare it is for people of a certain age to conceive on their own. It is just a biological fact. I think that it would be wonderful, if ovum donation was used, if our celebrity mom's would come forward. That would be a tremendous service for all...we know that however our babies come to us--whether through birth or adoption or donor gamates....they are a gift...
But what is going on in the media is misleading, and can be very painful for those of us hoping for a miracle.
Just my two cents!
Pamela