Right age to be a mother

By Dr. Shobha Gupta 

The trend of bearing child at later age has been catching up in India for a while now. The reason why parenthood is being post pone are many; but the most common reasons for delaying it are: to pursue education and build career, to achieve financial independence, availability of safe and effective contraception, and occasionally to maintain gap between babies. However, the best biologically age for child bearing is between the age of 20-35 years. After this age there might be difficulty in conceiving and the risks of miscarriage also rises up. 

Risk of miscarriage under 35 years is around 15% which increases to 20-35% at the age of 35-45 years and 50% in women of more than 45 years of age. If a woman of 25 to 30 years of age tries for pregnancy, then 75% of them will conceive naturally. While women aged around 35 years or above tries for pregnancy, then 66% of them might have chances of getting infertile due to less production of eggs in them. In that case IUI or IVF would be options available for them. 

Reason behind it is usually the number and quality of eggs decline with age. Studies have suggested, Live Birth rate after IVF treatment is around 32% in the age group less than 35 years which drops to 18% in age group 38-40 years and declines further to 5% beyond 42 years of age.  

Moreover, advanced age during pregnancy is associated with medical complications. Hence women should be encouraged to consider having family during

Best tips to conceive

By Dr. Shobha Gupta 

I see many patients struggling with infertility and they all have different stories to tell about their infertility journey. Today the lifestyle we live is the biggest reason that affects thousands and lakhs of couples to become infertile. Sometimes it literally broke my heart when I listened tot heir stories but being and Infertility specialist, it is indeed my duty to give my best advise to all the couples across the globe to live healthy and give them the best tips to follow for their fertility. 

Here are certain tips that you need to keep in mind and follow religiously to conceive: 

1. First of all your age matters a lot: 

For a woman the best reproductive years are in her 20s. When a woman reaches her thirties, her fertility will gradually decline, particularly after the age of 35. In your early 30’s you only have a 20% chance of getting pregnant. So, plan early. 

2. Lifestyle choices: 

How you live is the another important factor to be considered. If you are prone to take alcohol, smoking, drugs or taking medications such as painkillers and anti-inflammatories, it will definitely hamper your chances of getting pregnant on your own and then you need to seek a fertility expert. Abstain from such choices. 

3. Contraceptive pills: 

Many women nowadays have been on the pill since their teens, having sex before marriage or do not want to start family early is also one factor to be

Egg freezing: the new wave in family planning

By Dr. Shobha Gupta

Hindustan Times - HT Cafe

There is no iota of doubt that the field of medicine has gained much appreciation and came up with advance technologies to combat infertility through IVF (in vitreo fertilization) which is very very common now. Frozen eggs also has gained popularity since few years and especially when in a 2014 tech conglomerates Apple and Facebook announced that they will pay the bill of egg freezing process of their female employees. They took the decision to attract more female employees and maintain their retention rates so they may have prolonged careers (news piece published by The Guardian, UK)

Freezing eggs means preserving your eggs in specialized laboratories of IVF centre. As you age the quality of eggs starts declining. Women can have their own eggs froze and can use whenever they plan family. Storing your eggs may enable you to use them for treatment in the future.

It benefits specifically the older women: Let’s say a couple has a baby through IVF and the couple froze some of the eggs for future use. When she returns in a few years for an frozen egg transfer for her second baby, her ovaries and eggs will have aged and her fertility will have statistically

Frozen embryo transfer- some frequently asked questions

By Dr. Shobha Gupta

Embryo transfer is a part of IVF process. Main part of IVF is the ET which is called Embryo Transfer which usually takes 10 to 15 days to be injected in woman’s womb. Spare embryos from your IVF treatment can be frozen for future use, depending on their quality. Embryos can be stored for up to ten years for future treatment if your first cycle was unsuccessful or for siblings. Freezing is complex and you should bear in mind that success rates can be reduced with frozen embryo transfer. The culture medium containing one or two embryos is loaded into a thin catheter with a syringe on the end. The doctor carefully guides the catheter through the vagina and cervix, and deposits the embryo(s) into the uterus. Implantation begins three to four days later. 

Now let’s take few FAQ’s

Q. 1 Who does it benefit the most?

Ans. Infertile couples, single parent, aged couples. Lets say if a couple has a baby through IVF and the couple froze some of the eggs for future use. When she returns in a few years for an FET for her second baby, her ovaries and eggs will have aged and her fertility will have statistically decreased somewhat, but her frozen embryos are just as good cellularly as they were when she was younger. It's like a head-start in the getting-pregnant process for older women. 

Q. 2 What is the cost of FET(frozen embryo transfer)in India?

Ans. Embryos are frozen with an IVF /ICSI cycle. So, the cost of IVF / ICSI would apply. There would be an additional cost of freezing the embryos and storing them per year. For details on costs, email us on motherslapivf@gmail.com.

Q. 3 What to expect during FET?

Ans. After embryo transfer, you have to wait approximately 1-2 weeks before a pregnancy can be detected. Once the embryo / embryos are in, you just have to chill out and take it easy for a couple weeks. Patients tend to get emotional too during FET; even though FET is less involved and less stressful than IVF, the emotional roller coaster is still present, and as chaotic as ever.  The preparation stage is still a drag, as the two-week wait will be also. After FET one must continue with the medicines estrogen and progesterone.

Just freeze it!

By Dr. Shobha Gupta

Egg-freezing, or cyro-preservation, is a recent medical development that was first offered to women prior to cancer treatment. In cases where such treatment required the removal of ovaries or potential damage to eggs, women could remove and freeze their eggs for future use. This service is now being offered to all women. Apple and Facebook are offering this service to single women under the age of 35 who are not yet ready for children but hope to have them in the future.

With thriving careers and high disposable incomes, more women are taking the gamble of egg freezing as they climb the ladder or wait for Mr. Right

One of my patient Juhi Verma (name changed), 33, unmarried a Lawyer based in NCR (gurgaon) doesn’t want to get married anytime soon but definitely wants to settle down in years to come and wants to have baby. After going through various researches she decided to freeze her eggs so her search now begin to find a good centre where she can freeze her eggs and later get it inseminated with her future husband’s sperm. 

Now, Juhi, 38 married and has one baby girl.

An increasing number of couples these days are opting for egg freezing; with little time in their hands they couldn't manage to meet. Even Apple and Facebook have announced that they will pay for the Egg freezing process to their female employees so that they can delay childbirth and prolong their careers. 

 

We have many couples working for IT firms, BPO’s and management background they freeze their sperms or even go for egg freezing. They all are very