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Pregnancies in postmenopausal women over 50 years old in an oocyte donation program
Objective:
To determine the potential of the aging uterus in terms of pregnancy, implantation, and abortion rates, and obstetric complications in postmenopausal women age 50 and over, receiving oocyte donation.
Design:
Retrospective data analysis.
Setting:
A tertiary infertility center.
Patients:
Thirty-four postmenopausal women (50 to 62 years of age) undergoing a total of 61 cycles of oocyte donation.
Interventions:
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was given using increasing doses of 17 beta-E2 (2, 4, and 6 mg) and 100 mg of P in oil.
Main Outcome Measures:
Pregnancy, abortion, and implantation rates, and pregnancy outcome.
Results:
There were 34 patients treated through 61 cycles. Fifty-five transfer cycles were performed. A total of 18 clinical pregnancies were achieved with a pregnancy rate per transfer of 32.7% and per patient of 52.9%. There was one abortion, resulting in an abortion rate of 5.5%. Twenty-one of the 116 transferred embryos implanted, resulting in an implantation rate of 18%. No statistically different rates were found in oocytes donors.
Conclusion:
Women over the age of 50 and up to 62 can become pregnant using donated oocytes. The aging uterus after HRT allows implantation as well as in young women, and it is able to carry pregnancy to term apparently without any problems.