Australia’s peak fertility body condemns IVF births to 73-year-old Indian woman as ‘reckless medical and social practice’

The Fertility Society of Australia (FSA) today condemned the overseas practice of providing assisted reproductive technology to women over the age of menopause.

This follows the birth in recent days of twin girls to a 73-year-old woman in India, making her the oldest new mother in the world.

In Australia, fertility clinics work to a voluntary code of providing assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, only to women under the average age of menopause – around 50 years old.

FSA President, Professor Michael Chapman, said clinics in this country rigidly implemented highest quality standards in assisted reproduction “in the best interests of parents and children born from this technology.”

The FSA is the peak body representing doctors, scientists, nurses, counsellors and consumers working in assisted conception.

“This recent case in India is not the first time that a woman aged over 70 has given birth following IVF treatment in that country,” Professor Chapman said. “IVF births to women over the age of menopause can only occur with donated eggs, and this latest case in India sets a very concerning new precedent.

“The Fertility Society of Australia condemns the practice of providing assisted reproductive technology to people of this age. Indeed, from medical and social perspectives we believe it is reckless for both the mother and the offspring.

“Deliberately assisting conception in aged women directly contradicts the premise of do no harm. Such intervention risks the health of both mother and baby.”

INTERVIEW:

Professor Michael Chapman is available for interview on 0412 900 120

Note: The 2019 annual scientific meeting of the Fertility Society of Australia will be held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart from 14 to 19 September.