Lord Robert Winston has said a revolutionary surgery that attempts to ‘trick’ a women’s biological clock into thinking she is much younger is ‘playing on people’s fears’ that they do not know when they will become infertile
A pioneer of IVF fertility treatment has warned that women attempting to delay the menopause with a new procedure could risk becoming infertile altogether.
Lord Robert Winston said that a revolutionary surgery that attempts to ‘trick’ a women’s biological clock into thinking she is much younger is ‘playing on people’s fears’ that they do not know when they will become infertile.
Recently trialled in Birmingham, the procedure involves removing a small piece of the woman’s ovary while at a fertile age and freezing it at -150C.
When the woman starts to reach the menopause, it is thawed and transplanted back into the body to kick-start natural hormones which delay the menopause and can preserve fertility.
One fertility clinic has claimed that ‘revolutionary procedure’ means women will be able to delay the menopause by up to 20 years.
Lord Winston expressed his concerns for the safety of the technique, and said he would be ‘horrified’ if one of his relatives went through with it.
‘It may delay the menopause, but it may make them infertile. It’s a treatment I don’t think you’d want to do except if there’s a serious risk from radiation therapy or cancer therapy,’ said Lord Winston, who led pioneering research into in-vitro fertilisation treatment at Hammersmith Hospital.
‘The trouble really is that couples are so desperate to do anything to have children, and as people are leaving childbirth for very long times, people get very anxious.
‘There is a market for people who are the worried well. I’d be horrified if a relative of mine went through this process. It might make them infertile.’
Lord Winston fears there could be complications from the procedure, but teacher Dixie-Louise Dexter (pictured) was delighted with the results
So far nine women aged 22 to 36 have had the 30-minute procedure at the ProFaM clinic – which stands for Protecting Fertility and Menopause. Costing between £7,000 and £11,000, it is also being promoted as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in alleviating symptoms of the menopause such as hot flushes, a loss of sex drive and thinning bones.
One of the surgeons offering the operation claims its impact could be ‘bigger than IVF’.
Professor Simon Fishel, an IVF pioneer who is the clinic’s chief executive, said: ‘A woman does not know what her future is going to hold regarding her fertility.
‘If she has tissue stored she has a double benefit – storing her hormones for the menopause period if of use to her, and storing thousands of eggs if she finds herself in the position of needing them.
‘Women are living longer than at any time in human history, and it’s quite likely that many will be in the menopause for longer than in their fertile period.
‘We know that women the world over suffer from menopausal issues such as increased risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, depression to name a few.
‘It’s no surprise that drug therapy like HRT is heavily prescribed – but it’s not well tolerated by everyone.
‘ProFaM means normal premenopausal hormones continue, using the natural hormones, produced in the body’s usual, rhythmical pattern.’ Professor Fishel said he was going to offer the treatment to his own daughter for a 30th birthday present.
The procedure will be offered to patients up to the age of 40 for women who want to delay the menopause only, and up to the age of 35 for women who also want to preserve their fertility.
Those who want only to delay the onset of the menopause but not boost fertility would have the ovarian tissue grafted into an alternative part of the body such as the armpit, where it would continue to generate hormones but without producing eggs.
Lord Robert Winston, who led pioneering research into IVF at Hammersmith Hospital in London, said he would be ‘horrified’ if one of his relatives went through with the procedure to delay the menopause
How long its effects last for depends on when the tissue is taken, so while that from a 25-year-old might delay the menopause for 20 years, that from a 40-year-old might postpone it for only five.
A video produced for ProFaM advertising the surgery promises women it can help them ‘put your biological clock on hold’.
Ovarian tissue freezing has been used on cancer patients for decades as a way of preserving their fertility before they undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which can destroy the ovaries.
One of the other doctors involved in the venture, Professor Arri Coomarasamy, said he thought the treatment had the potential to be ‘bigger than IVF’.
He added: ‘This is preventing real medical problems. I do think this would be as big as IVF or even bigger. It is not just giving a woman a better chance of pregnancy later in life, but also tackling her health and quality of life.’
Lord Winston and others however maintain that the technique was playing on people’s fears of infertility and said removing tissue could damage a healthy ovary.
Richard Anderson, professor of clinical reproductive sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said more research was needed before it was considered a safe option.
‘There are several hundred women worldwide who have had ovarian tissue replaced, with almost all showing hormonal activity,’ he added.
‘So it is ‘old news’ that ovarian transplants can provide hormone replacement, but what is less clear is whether this is a safe and effective way of doing so.’
This transplant was a huge bonus for me, says woman who had hysterectomy at 33
Dixie-Louise Dexter underwent the revolutionary process after suffering from endometriosis
Teacher Dixie-Louise Dexter, 33, was facing a premature menopause before she had an ovarian tissue transplant.
She had suffered from endometriosis – a painful condition where the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
To stop her symptoms, she opted for a hysterectomy and to have her ovaries removed. The surgery meant she would enter into an early menopause.
But after Mrs Dexter’s ovaries were removed, some healthy tissue was separated from them. It was then reimplanted in her body to prevent the symptoms of menopause. She said: ‘I was a little anxious at first because I hadn’t heard about it and didn’t really know what it was.’
But she opted to have surgery because of the benefits to her quality of life.
‘My understanding of ovarian grafting is that when I would be having my operation they would have a look at my ovaries and take some of the good tissue from there to construct a new ovary,’ she said.
‘This would be implanted back inside me at the time of the surgery and they would then take a little bit of time to start working in my body. Then that would be able to produce its own hormones so that my body would not go into the menopause.’
Mrs Dexter, from Woodville, Derbyshire, said that treatment for endometriosis had involved blocking her hormones – known as a chemical menopause.
She said: ‘I knew what that felt like so I didn’t want to experience the hot flushes and mood swings and all the other things that go along with the menopause.
‘Being able to have that surgery and then not fall through the menopause, that was a huge bonus for me – really a huge positive reason.
‘It’s six months since my surgery now. It’s been a really hard road to get here but I would choose this a million times over if I could have one more day of just feeling as well as I do now.’