Is 45 years-of-age the cut-off for using autologous oocytes?

Abstract

Is 45 years-of-age the cut-off for using autologous oocytes?A case report published in this issue of RBMO (Gleicher et al., 2018) invites a philosophical debate around two women, both aged 47 years, who became pregnant from autologous oocytes, one progressing to a pre-term livebirth at 35 weeks, by which time the mother was 48 years old. Each woman received adjuvants, either dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) or growth hormone (GH). The case report also notes two further livebirths in 2016 in women aged 45 years.

Risk of non-lethal abnormalities should not prevent pregnancies in women of advanced maternal age

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Risk of non-lethal abnormalities should not prevent pregnancies in women of advanced maternal ageTo the Editor A n editorial published in this journal recently (Yovich et al, 2018) states that 'There is no indication from the evidence above that the use of autologous oocytes in women seeking to achieve a pregnancy at or after 45 is associated with a significantly increased risk of non-lethal abnormalities'. By this, do the authors mean to imply that if there is a risk of a non-lethal abnormality, such as Down syndrome, that is greater than for younger women, a 46 year-old-woman would be wrong to attempt to have a child?

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