- NHS advises that women’s fertility starts to decline sharply from age of 35
- But Lord Winston, who heads the Genesis Research Trust, dismissed this
- Leading fertility expert said women are able to conceive until their mid-40s
- Suggested fertility clinics that say otherwise are doing so for financial gain
Tammy Hughes For The Daily Mail
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Women remain fertile until they are 45 and are wrongly being pushed into early IVF by private clinics, Robert Winston, Britain’s leading fertility expert, has said.
The NHS advises that women’s fertility starts to decline sharply from 35 and those planning to have a family should take this into account.
But Lord Winston, who heads the Genesis Research Trust in London, dismissed this. He said women are able to conceive until their mid-40s and suggested fertility clinics that say otherwise are doing so for financial gain.
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Robert Winston, who heads the Genesis Research Trust, said women are able to conceive until their mid-40s
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday he said: ‘Actually even at the age of 40 your chances of getting pregnant spontaneously are pretty good if you keep trying, and it’s really not until you’re 45 there is a really sharp turn off.’
His view is in stark contrast to the NHS Choices website, which says: ‘In women, fertility declines more quickly with age. This decline becomes rapid after the age of 35, particularly due to the decline in the quality of the eggs released by the ovaries.’
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Professor Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Guidelines at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, added: ‘NICE guidance refers to research which indicates that the average rate of pregnancy declines as a woman gets older, with the decline becoming more notable from 35 to 39 years.’
But, asked whether women are leaving it too late to have a family, Lord Winston said: ‘I think there is a bit of a conflict of interests between the private clinics that are trying to persuade people to have treatment early and the reality.’
He added that even women who do have IVF are still relatively unlikely to conceive, contrary to what some centres might claim.
The NHS advises that women’s fertility starts to decline sharply from 35 and those planning to have a family should take this into account (file photo)
THIRD OF IVF FAILURES GIVE BIRTH NATURALLY, RESEARCH SHOWS
Almost a third of women who don’t conceive through IVF end up becoming pregnant naturally, research shows.
A study of 400 British couples found that of those who had tried IVF unsuccessfully, 31 per cent went on to conceive babies naturally.
And in the vast majority of cases – 87 per cent – they conceived within two years of stopping the fertility treatment. Scientists say the findings should offer hope to thousands of couples who stop IVF due to the costs, or because it is so heart-rending.
Researchers from Imperial and Kings Colleges in London and Greenwich NHS trust surveyed 403 couples six years after they started fertility treatment.
Some 27 per cent of those who had conceived through the process went on to have a second baby naturally. More surprisingly, 31 per cent of the failed IVF attempts had a child naturally. Fertility expert Professor Allan Pacey said: ‘This is useful information doctors can use to counsel patients.’
‘IVF is not a very successful treatment in spite of what all the clinics tell people,’ he said. ‘A large proportion of cycles don’t work and it’s very expensive.
It is not the first time the professor has criticised the IVF industry, saying clinics encourage women to have IVF treatment before they have explored cheaper options.
Last year he said: ‘There is excellent evidence that more than half of those referred to IVF could be treated as, or more, successfully by far cheaper alternatives.’
And in another interview he added: ‘Private IVF is charged not on what it actually costs to deliver the treatment, but what it is thought the market will bear.’
Lord Winston, Britain’s leading fertility expert, suggested fertility clinics that say women are unable to conceive in their mid-40s are doing so for financial gain
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