Abstract

PIP: The author comments on a French study of artificially inseminated French women which reported high levels of infertility and sharp reductions in fertility in women past 30. The implications widely drawn from this study--that women should wait to complete their educations and establish themselves in careers until after they have children--are viewed as invalid, and the findings themselves as highly exaggerated. The levels of infertility experienced by women undergoing artificial insemination are much higher than those experienced by women who are inseminated naturally. The 1 year limit used in the French study to define infertility does not allow sufficient time to determine whether a woman is actually infertile (although the 12 month rates are higher than those found in a survey of US women of reproductive age). In addition, the levels of infertility in the French study are much higher than those found in a carefully controlled study of British women, and higher than rates shown in various historical fertility studies. For reasons which are not as clear, the trends reported in the French study are also much sharper for women aged 30-35 than are those found in studies of women who have not been inseminated artificially. The author concludes that for most women who want to postpone childbearing until their 30s, the risks of becoming infertile may be quite small compared to the benefits that postponement may provide.