A study published recently in the American Journal of Perinatology is the biggest single-center study of older women who used egg donation to become pregnant. The research included 101 women and examined whether women age 50 and over were actually at increased risk for complications. Other data have showed that 50+ women who conceive with the help of donor eggs are at increased risk for complications during pregnancy and childbirth, including high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, premature delivery, and problems with the placenta. The scientists compared women age 50 or older with those 42 and younger who also used donor eggs to conceive. All the women were fertility patients at Columbia University Center for Reproductive Care.
The findings were largely reassuring for 50+ women, with the two groups experiencing similar rates of complications (and going against previous research showing a higher rate of problems in 50+ moms and moms-to-be). Medicalnewstoday.com reported that the study found that “all women who use egg donation…are at an elevated risk for obstetrical complications,” especially elevated blood pressure and having a C-section, but women over 50 don’t seem to face any greater risk.
