Posted by Lauren C. on June 08, 19100 at 11:10:25:
In Reply to: babies after 50.......... posted by Lisa Scott on June 07, 19100 at 12:57:47:
:Thank you Lisa for so succinctly stating what has been on my mind about Cheryl Tiegs. And I'd like to add that she is a celebrity, a "public figure", and the standard of privacy regarded to public figures is different than the standard regarded to nobodies like me, for example. Particularly when that public figure does come out and disclose their personal and private business to the public. They have an expectation (ir should have an expectation) that once they open up their business to the public, it will be scrutinized. Those of us (unfortunately) who know the realities of infertility, and especially those in the infertile community who have experienced infertility after their early 40s, know that there is no significant degree of likelihood that Cheryl Tiegs' twins are her biological children. And I don't care if they are or aren't except for the fact that once she told her story to the media, she should have disclosed the whole truth. Someone posted that CT doesn't have an obligation to the IF community to come forward. However, she should feel that obligation. Personally, I am extremely upset and disappointed by this situation. I too have been hearing from countless misinformed people who now are certain that women in their late 40's and early 50's can get pregnant with their biological children. I feel that it is my duty to educate the uneducated on the realities of this issue. I try to put it into simple terms and I do explain about donor eggs. I hope that everyone reading this will do the same. Keeping our heads in the sand, and allowing others to do the same,is very sad and harmful.
We owe it to ourselves and the rest of the public to disspell the myth that women can have their own genetic children via invitro fertilization procedures at advanced ages. It is extremely rare for women to be successful with their own eggs after age 42. Donor egg using cytoplasmic transfer has not produced a live birth yet and it is still in it's experimantal stages. So far the programs that are experimenting with this newer technology have not tried it on eggs over 44 years old. We must get the message out to the media. I am personally tired of getting well meaning cals from friends and family asking why I can't do what Cheryl Tiegs did. We all know the answer is that Cheryl didn't do it either. Lisa Scott