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Myths and misconceptions about fertility
This is an excerpt from Professor Christopher Chen’s new book: Your Infertility Is My Problem
B
ack when I first became a fertility specialist,
information wasn’t easily available online, and
couples who wanted to read up on fertility didn’t
have much resources to refer to. Today, the sheer
amount of information online is overwhelming. Just do
a quick Google search, and you’ll get access to a ton of
content on fertility Do’s and Don’ts. You can even find
exercise and diet plans tailored specifically to couples
hoping to get pregnant online.
Unfortunately, not everything you read online is
accurate and up to date. While the internet can be an
illuminating resource (for those who exercise a healthy
dose of cynicism!), you should not take everything you
see online as the gospel truth. Despite what some of
these clickbait articles say, I can assure you, getting
pregnant is not as simple as having sex in a certain
position, or having the female partner keep her legs in
the air post-sex.
#1: It’s easy to get pregnant as long as you take
care of yourself, even if you’re in your 40s
We’re blaming this one on television and social
media. Women are constantly being bombarded with
news of celebrities getting pregnant in their 40s or
50s - including Janet Jackson, Marcia Cross, Halle
Berry, Gwen Stefani and more. This lulls them into a
false sense of security, and they end up (mistakenly!)
thinking that it can’t be that hard to get pregnant, even
at an advanced age.
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MARCH 2020
The average woman releases 400 eggs or so over
the course of her life. If she’s more advanced in her
years, she has fewer eggs and therefore fewer chances
to get pregnant - simple as that. And while it does
seem that getting pregnant isn’t a problem for these
celebrities, fertility experts say that it’s likely that they’re
using assisted conception technology - or even donor
eggs - without disclosing it to the public.
Plus, there’s also the fact that women are only
hearing about the cases in which older celebrities
successfully conceive; they don’t hear stories about
other celebrities who try (and fail) to get pregnant.
The bottom line? Women who do want to start a
family in the long run should start preparing for their
pregnancies as soon as possible, instead of taking
it for granted that they’ll be able to conceive even in
their 40s.
#2: You can always fall back on freezing your
eggs
The first person to successfully freeze the human egg
was Professor Christopher Chen. Many women who
want to have children eventually (but aren’t ready yet)
often default to the option of freezing their eggs. First
things first: egg freezing isn’t permitted in certain
countries in Asia, including Singapore. On top of that,
the ideal time to freeze your eggs is between the
ages of 27 and 35 - while it’s possible for women in
their late 30s to freeze their eggs, they’ll be working
GlobalHealthAndTravel.com