西部落：晚育，与时间的较量？

Beating biological clock

Many women are turning to a controversial procedure to help them have children later in life

"...how urgent, she’s like, I knew nothing…"

On a weekly health and fitness radio show, Monica Adams talks to women about everything from spa treatments to sex.

"... talk about facials, I had caviar facial." But her fast-paced career includes three other jobs: a personal trainer, wellness advocate and morning traffic reporter.

"Well, For the most part, you are gonna get there on all highways but 70."

"Even though I love my career, that’s been the downfall."

Because at the age 37, she’s still single, but ready to have a baby. "Ideally, I would like to have two.”

As one of a growing number of women waiting until their mid-to-late 30s to have children, Monica decided¹ to find out what her chances are of conceiving.

"You are losing eggs, a thousand a month or about 13,000 a year."

Doctor Sherman Silber runs the infertility² clinic of St. Louis where he specializes in freezing women’s eggs.

"The slam-dunk thing to do is just to freeze your eggs and nothing twice about it."

The latest science called “vitrification” allows extracted eggs to freeze much faster which Dr. Silber says improves their quality considerably³.

"There’s absolutely no difference. So we could freeze a 20-year-old’s eggs and twenty years later we could thaw⁴ them, do IVF with them and she has a pregnancy⁵ rate of a 20-year-old. "

But the procedure is not without controversy⁶. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine still considers egg freezing an experimental procedure because of limited research.

"For that reason, it doesn’t feel that it should be offered or marketed to healthy young women as a means to avoid the consequences of advancing age.”

The society does support egg-freezing in cases where it’s medically necessary.

"It’s the ultimate gift of life."

Diagnosed with breast cancer last year at the age of 20, Melita Ramic ran the risk of becoming infertile⁷ from her chemotherapy treatments. When her cancer spread, she needed her ovaries removed to help her survive.

"So now it is about to expose the other ovary and fallopian tube."

"I might not plan to have kids right at this point of my life. But you have to take into consideration your future partner."

Today at least sixty healthy babies have been born in the U.S. using the updated egg-freezing technology. Critics consider that number too low to guarantee success and encourage extensive counseling before women decide to freeze their eggs.

Jamie Colby, Fox News.

facial: A treatment for the face, usually consisting of a massage and the application of cosmetic creams

caviar facial: 鱼子酱面部护理

slam-dunk thing: 铁定的事，板上钉钉的事

vitrification: 玻璃化，透明化

IVF: In Vitro Fertilization, 试管婴儿

chemotherapy treatment: 化疗

ovary: 卵巢

fallopian tube: 输卵管

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 infertility   

n.不肥沃，不毛；不育

参考例句：

• It is the Geneva, Switzerland-based Biotech Company's second recombinant infertility drug. 它是瑞士生物技术公司在日内瓦的公司生产的第二种重组治疗不孕症的药。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术制药疫苗
• Endometritis is a cause of infertility. 子宫内膜炎是不育的原子。 来自辞典例句

3 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

4 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

6 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 infertile   

adj.不孕的；不肥沃的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• Plants can't grow well in the infertile land.在贫瘠的土地上庄稼长不好。
• Nobody is willing to till this infertile land.这块薄田没有人愿意耕种。