Reproductive planning: a survey revealed what Argentine women think

For many individuals, fertility represents the true essence of human existence.

Infertility is a disease (recognized for years by the World Health Organization as such) very particular because it depends fundamentally on the perception of women or men. A woman of 30 years without ovaries and not wishing to be a mother could not be considered strictly ill. But a 50-year-old woman who wants to be a mother may suffer from this condition as a serious inconvenience and will seek medical help.

The freezing of human tissue has created opportunities in different areas of medicine.

The vitrification of eggs is an enormous scientific advance that has forever changed the perspective of the reproduction of human society. A scientific innovation with a clear application in practice. It's so important when planning reproductive life that, in his day, the emergence of oral contraceptives.

For the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and other scientific societies, the cryogenic preservation of oocytes for the preservation of fertility for "social or preventive" reasons is safe, effective, ethically acceptable, presents a low emotional risk, and is profitable. Even for women who are not at risk of losing their fertility immediately, this alternative is valuable in balancing risks and benefits. Give women the opportunity to manage their own autonomy. The number of women who consult and then decide to freeze their eggs has increased almost exponentially in our country and around the world.

During the months of September and October 2018 CEGyR (Center for Medicine and Reproductive Genetics) and in collaboration with the market research consultant Opinaia, we conducted a survey at the national level. The objective was to study the knowledge, attitudes and expectations of oocyte cryopreservation treatments, in women of childbearing age (between 20 and 40 years) and without children, through a self-administered survey. online with a panel of the consultant various social problems. The investigation consisted of open and closed questions, of approximately 10 minutes duration. 835 women responded to the survey, divided according to the socio-economic level representative of the largest cities of Argentina.

When asked how old they thought the deterioration of ovarian capacity had begun, 38% responded that after 35 years, 30% were considered after 40 years and 12% after 45 years.

There is no exact point in the female chronology where deterioration of reproductive function begins, but it is estimated that it begins at age 30. For example, ovodonation programs usually do not support donors over 31/32 years of age. This means that over 80% of respondents underestimate this transcendental data for planning purposes.
64% of respondents said that the ideal age to have a child was between 28 and 35 years old. This shows a tendency to increase by about 10 years compared to previous generations, a period in which maternity began at the beginning of the second decade of life.

When talking about the subject, it is striking that only 24% of respondents have already spoken to their gynecologist and 34% have never spoken to anyone. Most women talked about the problem with people around them.

A telling fact of the survey is that 65% of women consider the option of being a single mother in the event that they are not related to another person. Although we do not have previous recordings on this attitude, the increase in the number of treatments performed with the bank's sperm samples attests to this trend that we observe in practice. Changes in social paradigms accompany and progress alongside scientific advances in reproductive treatments.

87% of women are aware of the possibility of postponing maternity thanks to the cryogenic preservation of eggs and 70% are ready to do so.

Nearly 75% of women feel that it is appropriate for companies to pay their employees for oocyte cryopreservation treatments. 45% of women believe that men have no interest in having a stable and committed relationship.

As a valid argument for opioid cryopreservation, the issues of personal development and family planning have almost the same weight as health problems, reinforcing the hypothesis that women's empowerment is the value social age that changes society. way to see the design.

Only 20% of women are clearly aware of the cost of cryopreservation of oocytes and 98% of women consider that treatment should be covered by health insurance.

Today, many women are coming to the offices of the average reproductive centers of the third decade, who have not yet been mothers or do not see this project so closely, facing two fears: 1 ) repent of having frozen their oocytes. Either by not using them, or by not achieving a pregnancy, by wasting time, effort, having incurred physical and economic expenditure; 2) to repent one day of not having frozen eggs in a timely manner and ending up in life with an absence of unintentional maternity (in English: involuntary childnesless)

The risk of repentance is a powerful helix for women who decide to consult and finally freeze their oocytes.

The most important context of this internal debate is, on the one hand, to be the mother of a child carrying his own genetics and, on the other hand, to avoid costly and tedious treatments, which will even have to appeal to third parties (oocyte donation). ).

Seriously considering the possibility of freezing eggs is a unique opportunity and a case in which no woman of childbearing age, with or without a desire to be a mother, should be lost.

Of the women who consult the AHR physician on the freezing of their eggs, some do it and some do not. But something is clear: the consultation usually takes a lot of information to make decisions. This information is not always the most pleasant, nor the one they expect to receive.. To consult oneself and evaluate oneself is to submit oneself to an act of courage which helps one to grow as a person according to the orientation that each one seeks in his life. Do not think about the question, it is also making a life decision, but subconsciously and pbadively. Do not decide, it's decide.

During freezing, another aspect is fundamental: Freezing eggs is not an absolute guarantee to have a baby at home through this procedure.

It is essential to know the true extent of this cryogenic conservation, in terms of future opportunities for success. Education and information are transcendental.

In explaining to patients, we must be very cautious, as doctors, in not promising false expectations or creating a successful scenario around the procedure. We must badyze the benefits, the safety, the efficiency and the risks. It should also indicate the scientific ignorance of possible long-term effects on health.

The reported level of knowledge about the existence of egg cryopreservation is high; and the acceptance of women to perform cryopreservation treatments is also high, mobilized mainly by a change in the social roles and values ​​that motivate them: women tend to prioritize their personal and professional development before training from a family. In this sense too, family planning is a priority in the case of a stable partner.

The possibility of forming a fatherless family is a valuable option for most women who responded to the survey.

As a result of this investigation, we found that there was a great deal of ignorance about the physiological evolution of women's fertile capacity. We corroborate with figures the changes in social paradigms concerning the family conformation that we perceive in our offices. This leaves ample room for progress in dissemination and education in the area of ​​reproduction so that the woman has arrived as prepared as possible to make the most appropriate decisions for her future.