The Orlando-area woman had never had a child, but she and her husband very much wanted to be parents when she became a patient of Mark P. Trolice, M.D, founder of The IVF Center.
“Generally speaking, options for women with infertility in their mid-forties and beyond have been limited to IVF treatments involving donor eggs or adoption,” said Trolice, whose groundbreaking work was recently published in Fertility and Sterility, a publication of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). “But many women would prefer to conceive a biologically-related child.”
The percentage of women delaying childbearing has steadily increased in recent decades. A report issued just this month by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) stated there were more than nine times as many first births to mothers 35 and older in 2012 than there were in the 1970s. Since fertility for women begins to decline in their early 30s – a trend that dramatically accelerates when a woman reaches her late 30s and early 40s – the delay can pose significant challenges for women who postpone motherhood. The ASRM reports a less than 5% chance of pregnancy per month in women above age 39 and nearly one-third will miscarry.
As part of the Orlando woman’s quest to become a mother, she underwent IVF by Dr. Trolice using traditional egg-harvesting and embryo implantation, coupled with innovative hormone therapies and careful monitoring. Ultimately, she successfully conceived but her obstacles continued. The pregnancy was complicated by incompetence of her cervix requiring emergency suturing (cerclage) to maintain the baby inside her uterus until maturity. This was followed by hospitalization for 10 weeks. At 31.5 weeks, she underwent cesarean section with delivery of a healthy baby boy, who remains thriving at eight months of age.
“Playing a role in the life of my patient and her son was a real honor,” said Trolice. “Though against the odds, we employed IVF techniques that now may provide some women the chance to become mothers and grow their families.”
Dr. Trolice cautions that conception for women of advanced reproductive age remains highly challenging and is not without risks. His collaboration with other labs provides some of the highest IVF success rates and offers hope for women with a difficult prognosis.
We are Central Florida’s most successful IVF Program.
