Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : November 24, 2022 1:11 PM IST
Of course, we would have higher pregnancy chances; lesser risk, and we would look at healthier mothers and children born in the future!
Two days back, the Kerala High Court granted interim relief to a married couple who filed a petition challenging the upper age limit for ART treatment fixed in India. Under Section 21(g) of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, the upper age limit for the treatment is 55 years for men and 50 years for women. The petitioners were aged over 50 years. Taking note of the situation that the childless couple had gone through, the Court granted them permission to continue their ART treatment to conceive.
But is it safe to get pregnant after age 50, and what are the odds of conceiving at this stage of life? To get answers to these questions and more, we connected with Dr. Priti Gupta, Senior Consultant in Fertility & IVF services, First Step IVF (Centre for Reproductive Medicine), New Delhi. Following are excerpts from the exclusive conversation with the expert:
Conceiving naturally after age 50 is almost impossible. As women age, fertility continues to decline. Very rarely there are chances and times when women over 50 have successfully conceived through ART and given live birth but this is possible only through donor egg, though the chance of it is very minimal and very risky for both mother and baby.
The age limit has been imposed as emotions and sentiments could drive people to have a child without thinking about the almost inevitable consequences. After 50 years of age, the reproductive health of a woman declines rapidly and the same implies to men. This drastically increases pregnancy-related complications that are often life-threatening to women.
With the advancement in age, the probability of preterm birth, lower birth rate, genetic abnormalities, and fetal mortality becomes very high. The same has been observed in the case of men with advancing age, the disorders in the offspring due to chromosomal abnormalities and single-gene mutations shoot up.
Women can die also as it becomes a very high-risk pregnancy, with high chances of having BP, Diabetes and Caeserean section, and other health conditions. Additionally, it is physically harder and stressful to carry the weight of a baby at this age during pregnancy.
The medical fitness of the couple to raise a child is compromised at an advanced age. Family support is diminished which is required for the raising of a child.
So, as a medical professional, I agree with the capping of the upper age limit for ART treatment because most of the time patients are desperate especially after they undergo the trauma of child loss, and they refuse to listen to any of the complications, where the death of the women is also one of them.
The best age to get pregnant is when you are less than 30 years, but up to 35 years is also scientifically alright. Of course, one needs to consider other factors as well such as financial condition, physical and mental health, and ability to raise a child.
I had couples in 50's whom I refused to go ahead with ART. But they would come again and again and again. They cry and make you emotional. So, I will advise couples aged over 50yrs against it because the health risks for the mother and the child are alarmingly high.
