Thoughts on Day 14 Ovulation, Infertility in Young Women, and TTC After 35
Tuesday April 15, 2008
The Health Minute column at CNN.com published an article of interest recently, titled "Delaying Pregnancy Can Carry Consequences." I have a few issues with the article, one technical, one nit-picky, and one philosophical.
My technical beef with the article is regarding Dr. Michael Randell's advice on ovulation. Dr. Randell is quoted as saying he’s shocked that many couples don’t know that, and I quote, "The optimal time of the month for ovulation is 14 days after the first day of your last menstrual period."
Well, Dr. Randell, I’m shocked that you’d advise women that day 14 is the best day, since many women do not ovulate on day 14. It's one of those fertility misnomers, one that can prevent people from timing intercourse right. The day 14 for ovulation is based on the textbook menstrual cycle, with a 28 day cycle, and a 14 day luteal phase (time between ovulation and menstruation).
However, I have met few women with textbook cycles, even "fertile" women. Many women ovulate later, and sometimes earlier, than day 14. Taking a personal example, if I hedged my bets on ovulation occurring on day 14, timing intercourse for every other day for the five days prior, I may never get pregnant, since I almost always ovulate after day 20.
My nit-picky beef with the article is the implication that infertility applies mainly to the over 35 camp. While women are more likely to have trouble conceiving after age 35, there are plenty of women with infertility under age 35. All this emphasis in the news on age seems to have created an unspoken belief that young women don’t suffer from infertility. That’s simply not true.
And my philosophical problem with the article is that it seems like a "warning" to women. I picture a giant, wagging its finger in disapproval, saying, "Beware waiting until you’re ready, for once that time comes, it may be too late."
Well, yes, women should know that as they age, their risk for infertility goes up. But implying that this risk should persuade women to have children before they are ready just doesn't make sense.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, either in the comment section below, or on this thread in our infertility forums.
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Comments
I agree that ‘medical experts’ should provide the whole picture when giving advice. They must use a general medical understanding as a framework but then provide the exceptions to it as well. Without that step the information pepople get isn’t applicable to them spacificly and then what is the point!!!.
This can go for age as well. If the issue a medical expert has is in realtion to age factors and infertility they should point that out.
Don’t put blankets over big issues.
I agree with Dawn. Doctors should explain all the possible facts to their patients. This will help them better understand the situation.