|
medpundit |
||
 |
 |
|
Wednesday, November 13, 2002``They took the purest of the pure,'' Stewart said, referring to the women studied. ``One of the problems we have, we take these very selective groups and say, `This applies to everybody.' ``Eventually what's going to happen in my office is the diabetic smoker who's overweight and has high blood pressure is going to want to do this.'' And eventually they’ll expect the rest of us to pay for it, too. Can it be very long before someone expects Medicare to cover their IVF procedures and pregnancy care? Then there’s a word to the wise from someone who’s experiencing late motherhood herself: But Stark County mother Cheryl Clifford said those contemplating later-life birth through in vitro fertilization need to seriously consider issues that can arise. Clifford, of Jackson Township, knows the subject well: Seven years ago, at age 48, she gave birth to Heidi, Paul, Robert and Ruth. ``I almost feel like I was so far at the end of the stretch for doing (in vitro),'' she said. ``I can't imagine starting that process now. Of course, if I had only ended up with one child, my perspective might be different.'' Personally, I can’t imagine choosing to go through the trials of pregnancy and child rearing in the twilight years, but that’s my own personal bias. I do worry, though, that women succumb to a romantacized ideal of motherhood when they choose to have babies on their own or late in life. The reality is much messier and tougher than images of women cuddling their infants would have you think. Children are a lot of work and you can’t evade the effects of aging on endurance, even in the healthiest people. The comparison is always made in these cases to men who have babies late in life without raising any eyebrows, but more often than not, those men have young wives who take up the slack. How many of these post-menopausal women have young husbands to do the same? posted by Sydney on 11/13/2002 08:10:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|
