Soon a blood test to understand when the woman’s fertility will end: a discovery that makes you think
The news comes from the University of Medical Sciences of Tehran today, the result of the study of the researcher Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani.
Through a simple blood sample, a statistical model is being developed to predict the age at which a woman will enter menopause, ie the age at which she will no longer be able to have children.
All this is possible thanks to the identification of a biological marker represented by the Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), a factor which regulates the development of follicles in the ovaries.
Through the dosage of this hormone currently and on an experimental basis, it is possible to identify the age at which menopause will begin with an error range from 4 months to 4 years.
This discovery has several implications not only medical but also socio-cultural:
A simple blood test will tell us when we will begin to age, when we will no longer be physically fit to become mothers…
We live in a society in which the birth of the first child is increasingly delayed for very different reasons. From those of study, to work, economic or just because before becoming parents you want to have some fun…
Unfortunately for us women, knowing that our fertility will end at the age of 44, for example, does not help to have a child before that would be the primary goal . In fact, this awareness could have the effect of further postponing because “there is still time”…
It is very important, however, to consider that a woman’s fertility peaks at 20, that at 35 fertility halves and then decreases progressively and drastically.
The risk therefore is to arrive at 40 with the idea of having a child who, due to low fertility, is late in arriving or no longer arrives. Alongside this, the risk of miscarriage and fetal malformations increases. And so off to analysis, ascertaining and resorting to very expensive treatments and techniques to have the child you wanted, maybe too late…
In short, a situation that must be evaluated in all its aspects.
Planning a child on the basis of knowledge of the age of menopause depersonalizes, in my opinion, all that couple process that leads to the desire to have a child, to become parents.
We are people, we are made of feelings, of history and reducing our life to a mere calendar of appointments and stages, in my opinion, distorts our being a woman. partner and mother.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.