How are premature menopause and fertility related? Menopause is a natural phase of the aging process that starts earlier than usual for some women or simply too soon. It entails the disappearance of menstruation that is when a woman stops ovulating and decreasing estrogens production. Generally, the menopause is reached by women aged 45-55, but the average age is 51 years old. In the case that the menstruation terminates between 40-45 years old it is called “early menopause” while if it occurs before the age of 40, it can be classified as “premature menopause”.
Connection between premature menopause and fertility
Menopause implies the loss of fertility so it can cause negative physical and psychological consequences to many women when their fertile age decreases. The age of menopause is determined by the ovarian reserve of each woman at birth as well as by how it changes during her menstrual period. The causes of premature menopause are not always clearly clarified. It can be related to genetic factors, i.e in several cases women affected by early menopause have a similar family history. It may also appear after undergoing oncological treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy; it can be due to a premature ovarian failure or hysterectomy (tubal ligation, removal of the uterus, etc.).
Nowadays, thanks to assisted reproduction these women can have children and fulfill their dream to become mothers. Moreover, the altruistic acts of women who donate their eggs contribute to make this a true dream. It is important taking into account that premature menopause can be diagnosed in time through an ultrasound scan which allows checking if the follicle reserve is low. Moreover, women affected by premature menopause can also achieve the pregnancy via IVF with their own eggs apart from IVF with egg donor. How? By preserving their fertility and freezing their eggs in order to use them in case they want to postpone the motherhood experience.
Become a mother despite the early menopause through Egg donation
Nowadays, if women affected by menopause do not have any frozen eggs due to a delayed diagnosis or to the IVF failure, they may use the eggs donated by other women via an altruistic and anonymous act. These eggs are fertilized in the laboratory with the sperm of the patient’s partner or with donor’s sperm and the embryos obtained from the process are placed into the recipient woman’s uterus. Consequently, the woman with fertility issues can achieve her dream to become a mother by carrying the embryo in her own body.
IVF with egg donor offers considerably high success rates due to the fact that the donors’ age range are from 18 to 30 years old. The oocytes are studied in order to select those who are characterized by the best quality in order to increase the chances of pregnancy.
