IVF doctor urges OB/GYNs to discuss fertility with younger patients

A fertility doctor who performs in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures has placed a major part of the blame for the country's falling fertility rate on OB/GYNs for allegedly failing to warn women about the biological reality of fertility decline.

Key Takeaways:

• IVF doctor Brian Levine says even though women spend decades seeing OB/GYNs, they are rarely warned of the realities of fertility decline.

• While women's regular visits often involve cancer screenings and birth control, Levine claims these visits do not typically discuss a woman's plans or goals for her future fertility.

• The fertility industry thrives because OB/GYNs are silent, according to Levine.

The Details:

In an op-ed for The Free Press, Levine wrote about the falling fertility rate in the United States, which has allowed his business as an IVF doctor to thrive. He said that "housing, smartphones, and capitalism" often get blamed, but an issue with how OB/GYNs operate is also part of the problem.

"My own field — the multibillion-dollar industry of in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg freezing, and reproductive endocrinology — is, in part, a monument to my colleagues’ silence," he said. "The patient who arrives to my office in tears at age 33 is the one the gynecologist never had a thoughtful, baseline conversation with."

Too often, women don't seek help with fertility until it's too late. Levine explained, "By the time a woman finds her way to a fertility clinic, the most consequential decisions about her timeline have already been made. The annual visit is the front line in the fight for fertility, whether the doctor or patient realizes it."

Zoom Out:

Women have increasingly been encouraged to put off having children in favor of pursuing a career. Due to the rise of assisted reproductive technologies, like IVF, even when women are aware of the limitations of their fertility, they often assume that it can be managed. The number of women freezing their eggs has grown, and they are also doing so at younger ages than ever before.

As previously reported, a 2022 study found that the chance of having a live birth from frozen eggs is just 39%. Live Action News explained:

National data on the success rates of having a baby after freezing your eggs remain unknown, Dr. Timothy Hickman, president of the society and medical director of CCRM Fertility in Houston, told The New York Times. Women are trying to buy time in hopes of having a baby in the future but there is no guarantee — and it could cost them tens of thousands of dollars. Once they have paid to retrieve, freeze, and store their eggs, there are still costs associated with the IVF process, which carries its own low success rate. For women under 35, IVF has a success rate of just 44.5%, dropping to 2.8% for women ages 42 and over, according to data. Just seven percent of babies created through IVF survive to the newborn stage of life.

While women can and do conceive naturally at advanced maternal ages, the reality is that, for most women, fertility decreases past the age of 35. The most marked decline begins at approximately 37 years old, as women not only have fewer eggs, but the eggs that remain are often of poorer quality. This makes conception more difficult, and for women who do conceive, the risks are higher.

Older women are more likely to suffer complications like miscarriage, gestational diabetes, fetal chromosomal abnormalities, preterm birth, and stillbirth.

It is for these reasons that women often pursue IVF and surrogacy, which add ethical problems to an already emotionally difficult time. IVF and surrogacy carry significant risks and ultimately reduce children to consumer products, denying them their own inherent rights.

The Bottom Line:

Levine is right that women are not being guided well by OB/GYNs. Women deserve to be told the realities of what to expect with their fertility, rather than being deceived into thinking that babies can wait.