By Just female

EARLY this week, 50-year-old Grammy Award winner, Janet Jackson, gave birth to her first baby. The iconic singer and her husband had been visiting fertility specialists before she announced her pregnancy and there are strong indications she had an IVF pregnancy.  It isn’t an easy task for a woman to conceive naturally after the age of 45 especially with her own eggs.

However, in the world of reproductive medicine, it is no big deal for a 50 or even 60 year-old woman to become pregnant and give birth.  

Pregnancy over age 50 (post-menopausal pregnancy) has, over recent years, become more possible due to advances in Assisted Reproductive Technology, in particular egg donation.

Many women in their 40s struggling to conceive often resort to IVF pregnancy with younger donor eggs. Read Fola’s true life story below:

I was 33 when I got married, now I am about clocking 55. Without being modest, I’m still very good looking and in great health. I have a fulfilled career and a successful marriage. And to top it all, I have a lovely five-year-old daughter.

Pregnant-mother

Being a new mother for the first time at almost 50 is like being mother to my own grandchild. I had planned and prepared for the experience since I was much younger, but my dreams of being a mother didn’t come to light at the time I expected.

I know the pain of so many women who think they can never get pregnant. My own experience is testimony. I couldn’t go to baby ceremonies and activities for many years. I couldn’t talk to my friends who were pregnant. I couldn’t even say congratulations. I would just cry.

For every woman who wants children but hasn’t been able to have any, infertility can be a lonely place. I know because I’ve walked that road.

I have been married 22 years. My husband and I began trying immediately but with no success. After the sixth month, I suspected something was not right, so I consulted an obstetrician/gynaecologist who said everything was fine. Just relax and you’ll soon get pregnant, I was told. But that turned out to be far from truth.

The first time we got to know that we were an infertile couple was when we failed to get pregnant after one year of trying. We learned that because I was almost 35 and having trouble getting pregnant.

I was put on fertility drugs, but after three months on the drug, I began taking my temperature every day to keep track of my cycle and when it would be best to try to conceive. This went on for a year. But I still had no success.

In addition to charting of my temperature, I started reading books about infertility. It was quite by accident that I found out I had never been ovulating. I had wasted so much time taking my temperature.

This taught me the first big lesson about infertility. Don’t wallow in self-pity and ignorance. Ask questions and get answers.

By the time we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, my youngest sister’s first daughter was almost 10. The second child, a boy, was about 7. They were healthy as any children even though they were not conceived the conventional way. My sister, who is our mother’s lastborn, is about 10 years younger than I am. She resides in the UK and conceived through IVF.

When I spoke to her about her IVF experience, I got to know that it didn’t have 100 percent guarantee and was quite expensive. There is no insurance, so to speak. It was a risk I was prepared to take because I realized this could be the gateway I was seeking to motherhood.

It was made obvious to us that while there are several causes of infertility and several options to get pregnant, but IVF is the rave. It is the most common form of assisted reproductive technology available today.

Perhaps IVF was the miracle we needed? But it was a big expense. We went from one fertility doctor to the other and finally settled for Nordica Fertility Centre in our area in Abuja.

We waited an entire year before taking the bull by the horn. We began our treatment in earnest nearly 16 years after we were married. I had a reproductive health check, and my husband had a sperm count and motility test from which they found something wrong. We were even made to give history of our sexual life.

I quit my job once the treatment started so I could concentrate on getting pregnant. But we had no reason to regret our investment.  We were even prepared to do more than one cycle if necessary.

I was no longer ovulating because of my advanced age and I opted for donated eggs from an anonymous donor.

Once we had decided to pursue IVF, the eggs were literally injected with sperm from my husband. Then cultured for three days, and two to three of the “best” embryos were transferred into my uterus through the cervix with a tiny catheter. No incision and no anesthesia were needed.

I was told there was an issue with the sperms hence the need to inject one sperm directly into an egg. The specialists call the process intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

It is a process often used to guarantee against the risk of failed fertilization. I had read somewhere that 15 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, and with IVF, the number is no different. I was worried because the percentage actually goes up with the age of the woman. A woman like me that was above 45, had a 50 percent chance to miscarry.

I had no problems during the actual IVF procedure. However, I was admitted to the hospital just for monitoring, but got a pleasant surprise when they told me I was pregnant. It was such euphoria to think that I could actually be pregnant. I didn’t care that I was in the hospital. I was pregnant!

My pregnancy was quite normal. At six weeks, I had my first ultrasound that indicated a very strong heartbeat was present. Time passed, my due date quickly approached. I could not wait to deliver my baby. The birth of our daughter is the best thing that has ever happened to us. The happiness has taken all the pain away. She is so beautiful. We named her Demilade.

After I went through to get pregnant, I’d still gladly do it again. People who get pregnant and have babies so easily have no idea what they have been spared.  My wish is that every couple that is trying to get pregnant should know they are not alone and options are always available.