Posts Tagged ‘washington post’
Another article on ovaries, this time in The Washington Post
March 25, 2010 | By: Elizabeth
What is up with these writers? Or is it me? Do people really not know that are ovaries are ticking time bombs? This article argues that while our ovaries are turning to raisins the rest of our bodies may not be aging because we have a secret plan to maintain our youthful beauty(via botox, liposuction or some other form of “unnatural aging” at least according to the writer of the article)? Whatever. I think by now, I hope by now, that most women know that choosing to delay child bearing — while a very valid choice — comes with consequences. Putting career before marriage (as an internist lectured to me when I was in law school and living with the man who is now my husband of 17+ years) can be a mistake. Yes it can, a very very painful mistake.
But it also isn’t the end of the world. I am all for getting into bed and having a big cry when you find out you’re infertile for any reason, but technology has moved us to a point where aging doesn’t matter as much as it once did. Thanks to egg donation and surrogacy women have options they never had before. So we can choose to put off child bearing, as long as we are prepared for the possibility that we may not have a genetic link with our child or be able to carry that pregnancy. Tough call no doubt. I just find it surprising that suddenly newspapers are onto our ovaries. Like this was some massive conspiracy and women didn’t know about it? I guess a lot of women don’t realize just how serious an issue it is and the article did point out just how drastically our fertility drops off at age 30 (I admit I was taken aback by the new statistics quoted) and age 35 . . . but the vast majority of women are not ready to be mothers at 30 or 35 . . . so what are we to do? Read all these scary articles and rush to freeze our eggs (a technology that I do not believe has gotten to the point where it is a viable option for most women)? I’m sorry to rant, but I am tired of people acting like science just discovered this! Egg donation has been around for about 10 years (maybe a little less but not much). PULEASE give me a break and give women some credit!
I am about to open an egg donation agency and all of my donor candidates are well aware of what happens to their ovaries. These are “20 something” prospective egg donors that understand they are helping women who are sometimes not even ten years older than the donor is . . . . and more to the point, ovaries don’t just age out. Sometimes they never work properly. So, journalists, let’s move on!
Let’s talk about something else in the world of infertility. Why don’t you talk about what a devastating disease infertility is and why health insurance doesn’t cover most if any of the costs? Now there’s a conspiracy for you!
Filed under: Egg Donation, Thinking Out Loud
Tags: Egg Donation, health insurance, infertility, ovaries, washington post
