A WOMAN who went through an early menopause has just given birth to a baby girl – using her own eggs.
Pioneering day-surgery carried out by Barcelona's Hospital Clínic has so far enabled six post-menopausal women to become pregnant by stimulating egg production even after fertility has biologically ceased.
Clinical trials were carried out on 12 women who had all suffered a premature menopause – defined as under 40 years of age and affecting about 1% of Spain's population, or around 170,000 women.
Without using follicle-stimulant drugs, exactly half of them began to ovulate again following treatment, one of whom became pregnant and has just given birth.
María José Ortega was just 30 when she started the menopause – having tried to become pregnant and failed – and underwent five different types of IVF over the next two years, without success.
She was told that she had 'practically no eggs'.
As a last resort, she was referred to the hospital via the State health system for tests to see whether she would benefit from donor eggs, but gynaecologists suggested their new technique to her, which would – if successful – allow her to have a baby from one of her own eggs.
“The service the doctor gave me was excellent, so I trusted him and decided I had nothing to lose,” María José says.
She had surgery in October 2017 and gave birth to Daniela in August, aged 33.
Dr Francesc Fàbregues and Dr Francesc Carmona, who led the research project and carried out the operations, said theirs could be 'the technique of the future' and would 'open up many possibilities', but that it would need to be investigated further.
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