Have you gotten to read “The ‘Big Lie’ in Putting Off Pregnancy” on CNN today?
Wendy Sachs, author of “How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-at-Work Moms” shares insight about what delaying pregnancy and discusses Tanya Selvaratnam’s new book, “The Big Lie: Motherhood, Feminism and the Reality of the Biological Clock.”
In The Big Lie, Selvaratnam argues that feminism has misled women about their fertility. Isaac E. Sasson, M.D., Ph.D. suggests, “I think Gen-X women have indeed been misled by societal changes that occurred in the previous generation. The message that women ‘can have it all’ is correct but comes with many caveats with regards to fertility.”
At a time when the number of women in her early 40s who remain childless has doubled since 1975, there needs to be education about when and at what rate a woman’s fertility will decline. “It becomes exceedingly difficulty and expensive to achieve a healthy pregnancy and delivery after 40 years old. Very often, women in their late 30s and certainly over 40 require fertility treatment to build a family. Furthermore, at that age, there is no guarantee for success. When we see photos of celebrities in their 40s with newborns, we are exposed to a bias that we think everyone will be successful. Unfortunately, we don’t see pictures of all of the women that were unable to achieve success,” explains Dr. Sasson.
Dr. Isaac Sasson continues to say, “Just as women are proactive in their professional lives, they also need to be proactive in taking control of their reproductive options. The improvements and expansion of birth control options in the 70’s and 80’s have truly liberated women to achieve success in the workplace. But this has come as a double-edged sword, with the cost being an increase in couples challenged by infertility.”
As men and women experience and treat infertility, particularly an increase in donor egg treatment, it becomes an obvious that there needs to be more conversation about not only one’s fertility potential but ways to preserve fertility. Dr. Sasson suggests, “Egg freezing will further empower women to have it all and achieve their professional goals while providing them a level of security when it comes to having children at a later date.”
To learn more about your fertility options or to schedule an appointment at Shady Grove Fertility, please speak with one of our New Patient Liaisons at 877-971-7755.
