Post-menopausal babies may already be possible as the new year enters. Researchers worked on a supposed reverse menopausal process where women who are already past their monthly-period-cycle can still experience egg fertilization.
Experts from Athens have been working on an experiment earlier this year, trying to discover a way to reverse the effects of menopause among women. As it is already a given, the most obvious effect of menopausal is not being able to conceive as the menstrual cycle stops hence fertilization also halts. The experts reportedly experimented on a group of women where they have undergone a blood treatment process usually used for wound healing.
As revealed by the New Scientist, the researchers involved 30 women with ages between 46 and 49 who apparently still want to conceive a baby naturally. Each participant was extracted of a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) extracted from their own blood and was injected through their respective ovaries. The process was deemed successful among a two-third of the subjects who experience restoration of their menstrual cycle and go through fertilization making the conception of post-menopausal babies possible. According to Mirror Online, the process even worked for a woman who stopped having her menstrual periods for five years prior her injection.
The process used though by the experts is reportedly used for recovery from bone and joint injuries. The researchers of the study revealed that they basically followed the idea of stimulating the resident stem cells of a woman into reproducing ovulation hormones. As of late, the treatment is already officially offered by some clinics, where two are in New York City and some in Egypt.
Another process being observed to allow menopausal women to conceive a baby by rejuvenating egg cells. Lab experts will swap the mitochondria of the older women with younger ones. A final option of course is the classic way of fertilizing eggs in a lab. For older women, though, the process will include extracting the stem cells from their ovaries which will be processed to mature them into new eggs.
As for the latest experiment, the researchers are yet planning to implant embryos in more patients in the coming months. If the process will result to the normal development of a fetus, then the first batch of post-menopausal babies will be born towards the end of 2017 or early 2018.
