Giving Birth after Menopause: Is It Possible?

The term menopause describes the end of a woman’s menstrual cycle. When menopause occurs, the women do not experience ovulation anymore. The normal age of menopause is late 40s or early 50s. Menopause takes away the natural childbearing ability of a woman. However, with advancements in medical sciences, today, a woman can get pregnant even after menopause through artificial reproduction techniques. It’s true that postmenopausal pregnancy is a controversial topic; but it surly offers many women the change of having babies during the later part of their lives.

The only way through which a postmenopausal woman can get pregnant or give birth is in vitro fertilization or IVF. The process of IVF involves pacing of the fertilized egg into a woman’s womb. The process of fertilizing the egg with sperm is carried out in a laboratory setting or at a doctor’s clinic. A successful fertilization of the egg results in development of an embryo, which is then transferred into the uterus or womb of the woman. The body of a woman stops generating eggs after menopause; however her womb still stays functional. This allows her to become pregnant and deliver a baby through IVF. As women do not produce eggs after menopause, she will require another woman to donate her egg for becoming pregnant. As the egg has been donated by someone else, the woman carrying the baby will not have any genetic or biological connection with the fetus.

IVF is an extremely costly medical procedure. Its cost varies between $10,000 and $20,000 for every attempt. There are several instances when a woman fails to conceive after the first attempt, as a result of which a subsequent procedure in required increasing the overall cost of the procedure.

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