Forty years after the first successful IVF procedure, scientists and researchers continue to discover new exciting ways to treat infertility in women of all ages, including menopausal women. In one of the latest, more promising experimental treatments, eggs of menopausal women (deemed “leftover” eggs) are being used to produce viable eggs for IVF treatment. While women have a finite number of eggs, they do have a reserve of eggs that are not fully developed. These can number in the 1,000s and with new treatments such as Ovarian Rejuvenation Therapy both infertile and menopausal women can use their own eggs to conceive. This new procedure stimulates ovaries through a series of techniques. When a women reaches menopause, all of her eggs are not, contrary to popular belief, used up. In fact, she has thousands of eggs that remain behind—eggs that have not been used throughout her reproductive life. These are called “primordial” eggs, or leftover eggs, and doctors can treat these with a number of growth factors including the patient’s own blood and FSH hormone. In another new procedure called “In-Vitro Activation,” a third ovary is created out of existing ovarian tissue. In the past and even more recently, menopausal women resorted to the use of donor eggs, but these new experimental procedures and infertility advances offer a tremendous amount of possibility for women hoping to use their own eggs to conceive and have a healthy baby.
You can read more about these new advances here: