Pregnancy in late 40-s

Hi, KatrineG. Think everything carefully before starting doing anything. Being pregnant and giving birth to a child is always an awesome experience, but your age implies certain risks. I have read somewhere that the quality of oocytes becomes worse with the time. It will be nice if you pass all possible tests to get reliable data about your health condition. I reckon only after getting information about your health condition, you will be able to make any decisions.
P.S. My mother gave birth to me when she was 39 years old. She had constant problems with her pregnancy and had to take hormones to support it. This may be the reason why I have PCOS now.

Hi, jemily. I have also thought about this fact many times. I’m really a healthy woman. I practice yoga and fitness 4 times a week. I’m very careful with what I’m eating. So I think there is a great possibility that my pregnancy will last without any complications. However, I also worry about my oocyte quality. I don’t want to experience abortions or any other related problems…

Talk to your GP, and get referred to a specialist.

Then you must make a choice between these two variants. If I was you, I won’t take any risks. You have already given birth to your son. If your hubby wants to have his own child, you may try to conceive a baby with the help of egg donation. There will be more chances that your baby won’t have any health disorders.
P.S. Once you have decided to give a birth to a child by yourself, look for an experienced GYNY who would help to carry and give birth to a healthy baby. Good luck in your intentions!

Hi, KatrineG and other participants of this discussion. I don’t think that being in late 40s is a taboo to become a mum one more time. Just take time to test you and your husband. Maybe, your health condition is really perfect to become pregnant. As for egg donation procedure, I don’t like it. It’s the same like adopting a child. I understand that your husband wants his own child and this variant will be ideal for him. But are you ready for such life experience? Will you be able to treat this baby like your own child?

Be aware of the relationship between pregnancy loss and chromosomal abnormalities.

Be aware that the chances of getting pregnant after age 40

Don’t lose hope if you want to get pregnant after 40

Prepare for possible health problems during pregnancy

Take prenatal vitamins with folic acid

Learn about the risk of pre-eclampsia

Prepare for labor problems

And finally – you need to know a hopeful story for pregnancy after 40!

Scottlinehealth, thanks for the clues to take into consideration. Even if I choose egg donation, it won’t be a great problem for me to accept this child, because I love my husband greatly. He has told me so many times that he dreams to have a son or a daughter. I think I’ll be able to help him make his dream true. I’m also sure that my health will allow me to get pregnant, carry and give a childbirth. I’m ready to breastfeed and take care of a newborn baby.
The only thing that stops me from trying to conceive is that fact that I’m in my late 40-s. I have already consulted a geneticist and 2 gynecologists. All of them point out that I may become pregnant, but there is a great possibility that my child will have some health problems.
Yesterday my hubby and I had a talk on this issue. We think egg donation will be a nice variant for us…

Hi, KathrineG. Pregnancy after 40s really implies certain risks. You have to be really sure that your organism is ready for a pregnancy challenge. I’m 51 at present. When I was 48 I had IVF with a donor egg. I decided to do it because my anti-muller hormone test revealed a very low number of oocytes. Though my pregnancy lasted rather well (I didn’t have any pregnancy threatening problems), it was really difficult to carry a child for me, especially during the last weeks. I had a cesarean section on the fortieth week, because the doctors didn’t like the baby’s heartbeat.

I think this is your answer - it seems you have already spoken to doctors - we are not doctors so take what you hear from us with a gain of salt - all you can get from here is someone's opinion whether it is a good thing or not. Your doctors' will know best the risks and your health. Every person and family situation is different so I would never be in a position to tell you whether this a good thing or not for you.

What I would suggest is make sure you get all the pros and cons. I had a baby at 40 (granted not late 40s) and was healthy and had no issues. But that was me -- another woman in her 30s may have health issues. I love the idea of being a parent when older as you have more experience and are usually ready mentally and financially.

My doctor was great - for every procedure she was thorough on what the pros and cons were. For example because of my age I had the option of that blood test and the amio to determine if my child had downs syndrome. I was told the pros and cons of both -- I decided against either of these tests. So the best thing is to arm yourself with knowledge. Understand the risks - and the pros and cons and then decide what is best for you and your husband.

Good luck -

KathrineG, I quite a agree with Linkat. We have always to choose what is better for our babies not us. If I was you, I would choose egg donation because it’s much safer. Of course, you have to wait for your medical test results and then see how to act further. However, using the egg of a young woman will make your future baby healthier. In addition, you won’t have to worry about various genetic illnesses. Maybe, you are afraid to deal with reproductive clinics???

Waterwoman, you are quite right! I’m really afraid of dealing with reproductive clinic because of a number of reasons. Firstly, there are loads of reproductive clinics, but it’s very difficult to find a good one. Secondly, this service is too expensive here in the US. I have already talked with my insurance agent, and he told me that I can’t afford this procedure at present. The last point is that if I agree to egg donation, it means I will have to find a woman who resembles me greatly. I know that each reliable clinic has a good database of donors, so it won’t be difficult to find the one for me. But I’m really scared of doing this. How would I know that this woman is healthy and resembles me?

How does your insurance agent come into this?

why?

KathrineG, if you don’t like the US clinics, you can try to find a suitable one somewhere abroad. The number of countries where egg donation is available is rather big. Just take time to google the information, and you will certainly find the one which you will like the most. I chose my clinic for nearly 6 months. I didn’t rush. Just visited the official websites, emailed or called them, read the information about the clinics on various forums and etc. You can do the same…

I'd imagine that they would like to have a child that resembles them as much as possible or at least get a chance that the child would.

Everyone has their own set of preferences as this wouldn't impact me as much - I would be most concerned on their physical and mental health history. But everyone does have their own thoughts.

Hi, everybody! Thanks for your messages! Bettybetty, the variant of going somewhere abroad for an egg donation procedure attracts me more than having it in the USA. I’ve googled information about various countries, and now I see that the prices for this procedure in Europe are less than in the United States. I quite like the idea of going to the EU. I’ve read some information about Spain, Czeck Republic, the UK. My attention was also attracted to Ukraine and Russia. Is there anybody here who has an experience of passing egg donation in one of these countries? Can you give me your feedback?

Hi, KathrineG. All the countries you have written about are good enough for conducting egg donation program. At the same time, each of these countries have certain peculiarities in their laws. For instance, the egg donation procedure in Spain, Poland, the UK and Czech Republic are conducted on altruistic and anonymous basis. It means you won’t have to pay anything for the oocytes you have donated. In Ukraine and Russia reproductive medicine is a commercial business. You can buy a donor egg like a drug in the drug store. The prices aren’t high and it’s also possible to find good specialist and well-equipped clinic.

If people have made donations to the NHS they'll take a dim view of anyone from outside coming in to take advantage. All our blood is donated too, we have a different attitude to health care here. Our taxes pay for it, and it's for our benefit.

Unfortunately, health care is a good business nowadays. In the USA egg donation is extremely expensive. Though I have medical insurance and pay for it monthly, my insurance agent decided which clinic I should contact. I don’t like the clinics which I was offered, so I’m looking for the one somewhere outside.
Bettybetty, thanks for your clues and advice. The information you’ve given is extremely helpful. Could you please share your life experience with me? Where was your egg donation procedure conducted? Did you pay anything for it?