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Focusing on career while struggling with the ticking biological clock of fertility can be quite a nightmare for working women wanting to create a successful professional life for themselves. A new Yale study revealed that women who prioritize their careers value pregnancy planning through assisted reproductive techniques.

The study shows that career-oriented women believe they have a good chance of conceiving late in life with the help of reproductive technology, despite fertility rates dropping with age. Working women are likely to delay childbearing to focus on their career, and are also more certain they will pursue motherhood at a later stage in life.

During the study, the researchers discovered that for three out of four career-oriented women surveyed, planning their pregnancy was extremely important. As much as 90 percent of these women agreed that medical technologies such as IVF gave them a good chance of conceiving after the age of 30.

In addition, working women usually do not express any ethical concerns about reproductive technology involving donor eggs and sperm. The Yale study found that the women who placed less emphasis on work success were much less likely to value pregnancy planning and have confidence in reproductive technology.

According to Dr Gautam Allahbadia, an IVF consultant and head of the IVF Team at Millennium Medical Centre (MMC IVF) Dubai, the utility of procedures like IVF has grown past treating infertility. “Many women are making a deliberate choice today, putting their careers first,” he says.

Assisted reproduction techniques include a wide range of medical procedures, including IVF, PGT-A and Cryotech Vitrification – all aimed at assisting women who are unable to conceive naturally. With the help of these techniques, the issues pertaining to age-related fertility decline have been mitigated.  The extended fertility provided by medical advances has helped women have healthy and genetically-linked children in their advanced life stages, and also subjugate the risk of genetic anomalies or chromosomal abnormalities in the off springs. Medical procedures like these might cost a bit on the higher side; nevertheless, they give a ray of hope for motherhood to a large number of women worldwide. Helping women push boundaries of family planning, IVF has given them a chance to move ahead in their life endeavours with confidence.

The optimal age for trying to conceive a child remains between 25 to 30 years. However, women who ‘miss the bus’ due to any reason have now more options available to them than ever before. A Woman’s age is the most accurate test of egg quality. For Women past the age of 35, experiencing less frequent ovulation, along with deteriorated ‘quality’ of eggs is not unusual. Also, the chances of abnormal eggs are higher in older women, leading to decline in natural fertility with age.

The concern is shared by IVF doctors all over the world, and stands in tandem with the recommendation for working women. As per Dr Gautam Allahbadia, it is best to freeze your eggs before the age of 35 – to assure pregnancy, whenever the woman wants. These eggs can remain frozen for 25 years. “Five years ago, these frozen eggs stood a 40 per cent chance at surviving the process. However, advanced processes like Cryotech vitrification have now increased the odds, making the success rate hike to 99 per cent,” the Dubai IVF Consultant added.

The success metric of oocyte cryopreservation was addressed by the sex therapist Constance Quinn , who quoted, “You have the eggs as security and you don’t have to live like you are searching for the Holy Grail every night of the week, which is exhausting and confidence-shattering.”