Strong women, resilient women, women with one goal: to be moms regardless of whether they are already forty.
A study by Ferring and Invamer revealed that women do not know their life cycle very well, and more than 60% believe that by the time they make that decision, they will be able to conceive without any problem. But the reality is that, biologically, women are born with a fixed number of eggs, which decrease in quality with age.
Thus, if a woman decides to have children at an advanced age, the remaining eggs may be few or not have the ideal genetic characteristics. One of the main challenges for young professionals is to make their biological clock coincide with the moment they have defined as the best time to be mothers.
Preserving eggs through freezing or vitrification becomes one of the options that exist for women to plan their fertility and to postpone their motherhood until the moment they feel ready and want to do so. (You may be interested: Court endorses EPS for inVitro fertilization)
Mom stories at forty
Pregnancy is an individual process, unique and so unpredictable that it is still considered a miracle. That pregnancy is enjoyed at 20, 30 or 40 equally? Yes of course. That is what Viviana Ledesma, 42, believes. She is a gastronomic entrepreneur, born in Curuzú Cuatiá, in southern Argentina.
She is the first interviewee for this article that will surely make us see motherhood … with different eyes:
Viviana
“My family is made up of my husband, my baby Mateo. And two children from my previous marriage: Luciano, 22, and Graciana, 16 … that is, after 16 years I got pregnant again. And it is as if it were first time. Although the doctors said that my pregnancy was high risk due to my age, I had a normal pregnancy. In the last month I had gestational diabetes, but I was able to control it only with diet, so I was fine and Mateo was born by cesarean section at 39 weeks. Perfectly. It was a beautiful delivery and I must say that I enjoyed everything. Mateo was born on February 3, 2021 in Florida.
“My process of getting pregnant at 40 started because, with my new marriage, we wanted to have a baby. And I said ‘it’s now or never’ and then I started taking care of myself a while before, taking folic acid, exercising. Eat Healthy. I lost 12 kilos. After two months of trying, the positive came back.
“My fear at that time was the fear of any pregnant woman, who would come out healthy, fine. Not much more.
“To women who want to get pregnant at 40, I congratulate them. I, who had children so young, can also enjoy Mateo. Cheer up, and everything will be fine. It can be enjoyed with children at 20, 30 and 40.
“Matthew is the hand of God in the storm. It is the light of our lives. My husband and I are thankful that he is in our lives. “
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Teresa Domingo is our second interviewee. On her Instagram, Mamá InVitro, she shares all her experience and also talks about fertility, infertility and perinatal grief. He is currently 44 years old and resides in the south of beautiful Catalonia, in Spain.
She is resilient, a woman who despite the hard experience she went through in a first pregnancy, did not give up and gave way to life, from within:
Teresa
“I always wanted to be a mom but first I thought I should study, so I got a degree in Chemistry. Then I set out to find a stable job, and later I fell in love with a boy who did not share the same desire to start a family.
“So after a very painful couple breakup, she went to an assisted reproduction clinic to be a single mother. At that time, I was already 38 years old, I had delayed motherhood a lot because I prioritized my wishes.
“I went to a reproduction clinic in Barcelona, thinking that I would get pregnant easily because I had no difficulties in any way, I just delayed my age. I was unaware that the reserve of ovules that a woman begins to decrease at approximately 35 years of age. Unlike men, who manufacture sperm throughout their lives, as women we are already born with all the eggs that we are going to have.
“So, at the age of 38, the treatment journey began: I went through two artificial inseminations, two InVitro fertilizations with three embryo transfers, a biochemical abortion and a uterine surgery.
“It took me three years to see a positive pregnancy test, so I was very happy. Was a kid. I started to prepare for his arrival, I bought the first clothes, the crib, but after 20 weeks I suffered a bag rupture, even to this day I don’t know why it happened. And that led to a premature delivery in which my baby died. It was a very painful blow, it is the most terrible experience of my life. When physically and especially psychologically I recovered, I decided to try again. Surprisingly, I got pregnant on the first try and in July 2020 my son was born ”.
Teresa’s fears
“I had many fears, which evolved as a function of my process. At first, my fear was related to being a single mom, in the sense of whether I could raise a child alone. Then, when the first negative results of the treatments appeared, the fear turned to never being a mother. In that sense, I felt guilty for not having tried to be a mother before, since my only problem was having delayed motherhood. Finally, the biggest fear came with the pregnancy, since it was nine months in which I was in a constant state of alert for fear of losing my baby again. Very hard.
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