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CNN Live Today

Fertility Options Available for Older Couples

Aired April 25, 2002 - 10:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of women asking themselves how long they can wait before having a baby. The question has been getting a lot of attention over the last couple of weeks with the release of a new book that suggests many women have waited too long, only to find out that getting pregnant isn't as easy as they thought it would be. Today, our "Paging Dr. Gupta" segment examines the fertility factor. And we have paged Dr. Gupta, Sanjay Gupta -- hi, good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. It is a big topic, no question, as more and more women are putting off having babies for their professional lives, and we actually wanted to investigate that a little bit, talk to fertility experts specifically about what some of the problems are with having babies late, and what you can do about it, some of the safe techniques. Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: When should a couple come and see you?

DR. JOE MASSEY, REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY ASSOCIATES: A couple should come and see an infertility specialist if they haven't conceived within a year. Around age 32 -- I think a woman who doesn't conceive by the age of 32 is beginning to take a risk that her fertility may be impaired.

GUPTA: Is there any age for the woman where you say, you know, you really should see somebody even before you...

MASSEY: Yes, a 37-year-old probably shouldn't wait a year. I would say it wouldn't hurt to start in six months.

GUPTA: Can you talk us through this?

MASSEY: First of all, one would assume that there will be sperm present and they will be swimming. That's not necessarily true. So, a third of our problem -- maybe even 40 percent of our problems are based on the male side, not the woman's side. The big problem with women in their older age is eggs. It tends to be egg quality more than anything else.

GUPTA (voice-over): But luckily, medical science has offered us options. MASSEY: When the sperm numbers are low, we can get around that by doing intro-uterine insemination, taking the sperm, putting it into the woman's reproductive tract, and enhancing the number of sperm.

GUPTA: Or...

MASSEY: With drugs, we can make her produce two, three, four, or even more eggs in one month. That's really more targets for the sperm to shoot at.

GUPTA: And finally...

MASSEY: If insemination doesn't work, then our ultimate treatment, of course, is in vitro fertilization. That's the test-tube baby procedure. And we can get success rates in the 40 percent range in one month, which is like a 20-year-old.

GUPTA: None of it is easy.

MASSEY: It is a complex, expensive, time-consuming procedure, and if it doesn't work, you have got to start all over again. Not like as easy as starting all over again with Mother Nature.

GUPTA: But there are positives to having babies later in life.

MASSEY: Well, the women who have babies when they are in their late 30s value those babies enormously. Maybe it is a little too easy when people are 22 to have babies, when they're 37 and 38 or 40 and have a baby, those babies have a lot of pictures taken.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Some good news there, they do have a lot of pictures taken. And also, just to be clear, what they were talking about, what the best fertility techniques, including, perhaps, IVF, which can be complex, you can take someone who has a lower chance of fertility because of advanced age, and actually increase their fertility rates to someone of the age of 20 years old, which is about 40 or so percent per month, so pretty high.

KAGAN: And we've seen so many techniques developed over our own lifetime. I think a lot of women just have the idea, Oh, when it's time, I will just go get in vitro if that is what I need. What's wrong with that kind of thinking?

GUPTA: Well, there is a couple of issues there. One is the actual fertility, whether or not someone will be able to have a baby. And the second will be the quality of the eggs and the sperm involved as well. Certainly with in vitro fertilization, the chances of fertility are greatly increased, but someone who does have older eggs because of advanced age will probably need to monitor the pregnancy a little bit more closely. Things like amniocentesis sometimes are suggested or recommended, so a lot of things to think about there, but the fertility rates can be greatly enhanced with some of these techniques. KAGAN: And the other thing -- you know, women -- we get all the problems here. We're supposed to get the career, the marriage, the babies, what about you guys? You know, what about you guys getting old? Some of you guys are old.

GUPTA: Some of us guys are old, and it can effect -- in fact, they actually looked at fertility rates and say -- in the case of infertile couples, the problem will be with the man, 30 to 40 percent of the time, so it is important not to forget that, if the couple remains infertile after a year or even six months, to go ahead and have that checked as well. And there is also things that can be done about increasing sperm counts, increasing quality, and quantity.

KAGAN: So there is help out there, but nothing is 100 percent, which is what, I guess, the message is...

GUPTA: Even Mother Nature is not 100 percent.

KAGAN: Even Mother Nature. Exactly. OK. Well, you are coming back next hour...

GUPTA: Yes.

KAGAN: ... to answer questions, and if you have questions for Dr. Gupta about fertility, now is the time to ask.

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