There has been a lot of news coverage regarding the 67-year old (“World’s Oldest Mother.”) It’s important to know that for women, who utilize donor eggs, our cut-off age for treatment is 50 years. Of concern to all those who treat patients in this age group (50 years and above) is that there is not a lot of data on the issues surrounding assisted reproductive treatments and the outcome.
And, of all the events in a woman’s life, pregnancy is by far one of the most stressful and physiological on her body. There are a number of steps women between 45-50 years go through before receiving treatment, including seeing a maternal–fetal specialist who can advise of any associated risks including:
• Hypertension
• Gestational diabetes
• Greater risk for premature labor -- It’s important the patient know about these risks.
We also do a full medical exam and that includes a liver function study, test for electrolytes, kidney function, pulmonary test with chest X-ray, EKG and mammogram.
For this group of patients you want to know their baseline is normal before starting any treatments and preparing them for pregnancy.
All patients also have to undergo psychological screening so they are aware of the emotional risks involved.