Career or Baby ?

Today’s women and men are successful beyond imagination, and there comes a time when they have to choose between parenthood and a career. The former always precedes as it becomes the purpose for the latter’s existence. Having a child surely gifts an eternal bliss, shuns selfishness, and above all, it brings happiness to life. You should realize that having one does not always require sacrificing the other. However, it’s highly essential to understand that the clock keeps ticking. There could be many reasons for men and women to postpone having a child. For men, a couple of main reasons could be anxieties while settling down to start a family and the battle between carrying out responsibilities against their advancing age, despite their family’s requests, societal threats, and sighs over their decision to plan for children. Whereas, for women, the number one reason is having financial freedom. They delay childbirth due to not having enough money, and they want to earn a higher salary first, be a self-supportive mom, and sometimes establish their dream career before having a baby.

We all know that age plays a crucial role in a woman's ability to get pregnant, but many of us often ignore that men’s age is equally important. Let’s look at male and female infertility, the causes, and solutions.

Although a man’s fertility rate doesn’t drop abruptly as a woman’s, this doesn’t mean that every man remains capable of having a child throughout his lifetime. The quality of sperm becomes poor, and the number of sperms produced, the sperm’s ability to swim (motility), and the sperm’s shape (morphology) are all known to change with increasing age. All these factors drop significantly during their 40s compared to men in their 30s. Aged fathers are closely linked with adverse effects on their children as they are prone to damaged sperm DNAs that may lead to risks of unsuccessful pregnancies because of fertilization with an unhealthy sperm. This also means a high prevalence of genetic defects and disorders such as autism.

A woman’s peak reproductive years remain between her late teens and late 20s. During the 30s, the fertility potential starts to decline. It becomes more drastic by the age of 30, and by 45, getting pregnant is difficult for women. Women who conceive after their early 30s have a high risk of various medical complications. Late pregnancy also affects the fetus’s health in many ways, and as a woman ages, the risk of having a baby with missing, ruptured, or extra chromosomes increases significantly. Miscarriages and stillbirths are noticed in women who are above 35. Multiple pregnancies that lead to various developmental issues for the fetus and maternal complications are more common in older women than younger women, as the ovaries tend to release more than one egg during a menstrual cycle.

So here’s the good news. The world of medicines is ready to support you despite all the odds! There are several treatment options for men and women to help them conceive, including Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).

• Surgery, if the cause of infertility is varicocele or a blockage in the tubes that carry sperm (vas deferens)

• Antibiotics to get rid of the infections in reproductive parts.

• Medicines and therapy to treat ejaculation or erection problems.

• Hormone treatments if the problem is related to the fluctuation of certain hormones.

• Fertility drugs and hormone therapy to help the woman ovulate or restore the vital hormones

• Minimally invasive surgeries such as laparoscopy and other procedures to treat conditions such as endometriosis or to open blocked fallopian tubes

You must have known about the popular ART treatments such as IVF - an advanced medical procedure where the woman's egg is fertilized by a sperm outside the body, IUI – a technique where sperms are placed in the uterus around the time when the ovary releases one or more eggs to be fertilized, and ICSI – which involves injecting a live sperm directly into the centre of a human egg for successful fertilization and implantation to happen. Here comes the real boon – sperm freezing and egg freezing!

Sperm freezing, also called cryopreservation, is the process of preserving sperm cells for later use, which helps maintain men’s fertility potential even if they are delaying fatherhood for any reasons or undergoing treatments that jeopardize their ability to have a child. This process ensures sperm motility is never harmed, and the frozen sperm can be thawed and used to fertilize eggs. It can be done using artificial insemination techniques (IUI) or Assisted Reproductive Techniques (IVF/ICSI).

Egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, is an effective technique to preserve a woman’s ability to get pregnant in the future. This helps the women who postpone childbirth to have their biological child when they’re ready for it. The woman’s eggs are frozen and stored for later use. Such frozen eggs can be thawed, combined with sperm in a lab, and implanted in the uterus (in vitro fertilization). However, it’s necessary to evaluate your fertility profile and discuss with your doctor if this would suit you, as no one size fits all.

Parenting is never an easy job, and it’s not an appreciable idea to postpone parenthood for a career. Maintaining a good balance is the key, and it all begins with planning your reproductive life wisely. Be creative, be consistent in whatever you do, and choose what is suitable for you. It is still possible to have a child and enjoy your parenthood with passion despite your hectic schedule. Prepare yourself to win the battle of a baby or career and discover the joys of being a successful individual personally and professionally!