Postponing Parenthood

With increasing numbers of women postponing childbearing until after the age of 30, the issue of delayed pregnancy and parenthood, seen against the increased risk of infertility, becomes complex. After devoting time to professional or personal concerns, both women and men face the disheartening result that physiological changes may make conception impossible. Postponing Parenthood: The Effect of Age on Reproductive Potential is an important resource for learning, in advance, how the aging process directly influences the physical ability of an adult to start a family. Gale A. Sloan, R.N., an expert medical writer specializing in issues of fertility and aging, compassionately looks at the circumstances that couples who have put off childbearing, or who are considering doing so, must handle. These include the overall effect of age on a woman's potential to conceive; the biological and genetic risks facing both women and men; the painstaking precautions a couple must exercise to protect or enhance fertility; the accurate medical details concerning conception; the new technological treatments that allow more women to carry to term safely; the psychological influence of parental age on the development of a child; and the time to consider adoption as a reasonable option in beginning parenthood. Many books discuss the issue of infertility, but Postponing Parenthood strives to diminish the possibility of this condition occurring. Enhancing the discussion with a detailed questionnaire exploring signs that may indicate infertility, Ms. Sloan carefully outlines the steps to facilitate conception, how to know if it is taking too long, and the specific medical consultation to seek. This is extremelyimportant because many of the "infertility experts" in the United States lack sufficiently extensive training and knowledge of current technological treatments in the field of infertility. After a thorough presentation of the tests performed in an infertility workup, including th