No, luckily reproductive medicine has stopped being a taboo subject. Today, more and more women and couples resort to these techniques and treatments to fulfill their reproductive desire. Some patients who, in addition, share with greater normality that they have undergone assisted reproduction and if they have faced complications to conceive. In addition, we discussed with Dr. Clara Colomé, director of IVI Mallorca, and with Mar Moranta, a patient at the same clinic, this scenario observed thanks to the maternity and fertility study carried out by IVI in Spain, in collaboration with G.F.K..
Naturalize Assisted Reproduction
“Infertility is a disease and is recognized as such by the WHO. Society is increasingly aware of the limited reproductive capacities of the human being, the most infertile living being that exists, so this reality is becoming more normal over the years. We have come a long way, and there is still a long way to go in terms of information. Initiatives like this help us name problems so we can deal with them in the best conditions”explains Dr. Colomé.
In a society in which the moment in which to have children is increasingly postponed, it is inevitable that around us there is someone who has conceived through assisted reproduction. In this sense, 79% of the participants in the survey admit to knowing someone in their environment with difficulties in having a child, especially close friends. “These figures reveal a progressive opening and naturalization of the social conversation regarding infertility. We have come a long way, and there is still a long way to go in terms of information. Initiatives like this help us name problems so we can deal with them in the best conditions”adds Dr. Colomé.
This is the case of Mar, our patient, who also tells us that “My daughter has the same number of friends, even more, who have been conceived by Assisted Reproduction than at home. And this is spoken more naturally when a person from the group of friends begins to comment on the subject”.
And if the moment was yesterday?
“They have sold us that women have to get everywhere. Work, partner, travel… but time doesn’t stop, and our ovaries follow their chronological clock without being able to avoid it. It is then that we have to explain to a 38-40 year old woman, oblivious to the reality of her fertility, that she has decided that ‘her hers’ her time is now, but that the time of the ovaries it was hers yesterday. Even though she looks great, does sports, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t drink, in the face of her disbelief and ignorance, you must make her understand that this drop in the quantity and quality of her ovules is inherent to age and the passage of time, and that it is not Is there a way to stop it?explains Dr. Clara Colomé.
The reality in our society is that women are in control when it comes to their fertility, just as they are in other areas of their lives. You have the freedom and autonomy to decide whether to be a mother or not, how and when to do it. But she is also more aware that all the demands of her current life can lead her to reproductive treatment in order to become a mother, something increasingly natural.
“The reality is clear: women are mothers at an increasingly late age. In Spain, currently, the average age to have the first child is already over 32 years. And this is where our activity makes sense, because once we receive them in consultation we will do everything possible to offer them the best options on their way to motherhood “adds Dr. Colomé.
Again we turn to the testimony of Mar to reflect this reality. It is not her case, but she does see it in her friends, who worried about her fertility as a result of her having to go to our clinic to be a mother: “My friends have completed long university degrees, two or three master’s degrees, and when they have had a stable job is when they have begun to give importance to knowing how their fertility was”.
Higher level of awareness in some groups
Despite this naturalization that we are commenting on, there is a reality observed thanks to this study, regarding concrete knowledge about female fertility and reproductive techniques. We can conclude that there is a medium-low degree of information, ranging from 25 to 60%. The common denominator in all these cases that end up in consultation? The misinformation.
Of the main reproductive problems raised in the survey, the best known is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (60%). Those that least would be secondary infertility and premature ovarian failure (30%). Other problems, such as advanced maternal age or endometriosis, scenarios that a vast majority of our patients present, are only known by half of the respondents.
“Regarding the information regarding reproductive treatments, we again find a medium-low level of knowledge, with a percentage of women who claim to have enough information ranging between 25 and 55%. In this sense, the best known treatment would be In Vitro Fertilization (55%) and the least known would point to the ROPA Method (Reception of Oocytes from the Couple), indicated for couples of women who want to face maternity in a shared way “adds Dr. Colomé.
A situation that demonstrates the need to raise awareness of both fertility problems and existing treatments to solve them. Information is essential in the field of assisted reproduction, both to prevent and to offer solutions.
dismantling myths
As a result of this ignorance, it is not surprising that myths regarding reproductive medicine have been perpetuated. The fact of associating treatments with pain, fear or discomfort is not surprising. But the reality is that science is evolving by leaps and bounds, allowing us to offer more comfortable and bearable treatments. Information that has to be transmitted to patients, since many of them give up their desire for maternity due to these prejudices rooted in ignorance.
In this sense, we see how 13% of the participants in the survey ruled out resorting to reproductive medicine for fear of the physical and emotional consequences. However, the data that we observe as a result of this study will help us to refute these beliefs associated with assisted reproduction.
90% of those surveyed consider that there is a greater probability of multiple pregnancy due to assisted reproduction.
Currently and thanks to advances in treatments, at IVI we transfer a single embryo in almost all of the processes. The exception are those that, as a result of a specific reproductive diagnosis, require the transfer of more than one embryo to achieve reproductive success, always with a clinical justification.
“IVI has been committed for years to the unique transfer to ensure the well-being of the mother and her future baby, resembling the reproductive processes to natural conception as much as possible. The success of a single embryo transfer is backed by the high success rates that we have managed to achieve throughout our history”adds Dr. Colomé.
