The average age of a woman when she starts her family has been slowing climbing since the 1970’s. Today the average age is 25.1, higher than it has ever been and still climbing. The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2014 that the number of women over age 35 who are giving birth for the first time continues to rise as well, and the rate for women ages 40-44 doubled between the years of 1990 and 2012. A new study may give us more insight into why more women are putting off having children: fertility solutions like IVF and embryo adoption could be a huge motivating factor for the delay.
The study, done by economists Naomi Gershoni and Corinne Low, took a look at the impact that easy, affordable access to IVF has on women. They discovered that access to alternative family building methods like IVF make women more likely to delay motherhood and pursue higher education or focus on their careers. Women become secure in the knowledge that when they do want to start a family, science will be there to help them get pregnant.
The long-lasting implications of this cannot be overlooked. The increased use of IVF as a primary means for family building means more and more embryos will be put into storage when families have been completed. With well over 600,000 embryos already in storage within the United States, there is already a burgeoning number of embryos that deserve to have a chance at life. Educating the public about the embryo adoption as a safe, affordable family building method will help keep embryos from sitting indefinitely in frozen storage.
If you would like to learn more about educating clinics, patients, friends and family about embryo adoption, visit www.embryoadoption.org for resources and information.
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