Celebrities ‘mislead women into thinking it’s easy to become pregnant over 40’
CELEBRITIES are misleading women that getting pregnant over 40 is easy by not revealing they have used IVF or had fertility problems, researchers say.
Interviews and reports of older stars giving birth create the impression that ‘age is just a number’.
Experts warned yesterday that a failure to be open about fertility was leading to ‘devastating consequences’.
They said women are being misled into thinking pregnancy is more straightforward past the age of 35 than it is, in reports that ‘glamorise’ being an older mother – without mentioning the difficulties or the risks, such as stillbirth, miscarriage and abnormalities.
Having a baby at ‘advanced maternal age’ gets much harder as fertility levels plummet in a woman’s mid-to-late 30s and early 40s – but this is not always made clear, the US researchers said. Reports of women having twins late into their 40s or even 50s, without any mention of the use of IVF, also create a false impression.
The authors suggested that the stigma attached to infertility may be the reason why it is not mentioned.
But they said ‘reproductive-aged women frequently overestimate the likelihood of fertility at advanced reproductive ages resulting in the devastating consequence of unintended childlessness’.
The scientists’ report, to be presented this week to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in San Antonio, Texas, does not list older stars who have given birth without their fertility problems being reported. However, a
‘Devastating childlessness’
handful have been forthright about their struggles with having children. They include actress Nicole Kidman, who was 43 when her second daughter was born via a surrogate mother; the model Caprice, who also used a surrogate in her early 40s; and singer Mariah Carey, who was 41 when she had twins through IVF.
The authors, from New York University School of Medicine and New York University Langone Medical Center, looked at whether ‘popular media over-represents celebrity pregnancies at advanced reproductive ages and thus contributes to public misconceptions surrounding agerelated fertility decline’.
They studied publications ‘popular with women of reproductive age’ – US Weekly, Cosmopolitan and People Magazine – between January 2010 and January 2014.
The scientists logged references in text or photo to pregnancy, infertility, assisted reproductive technology (ART), surrogacy or adoption. They also counted pictures of mothers with children under two at the time of publication, and mentions of pregnancy-related health risks.
Having children featured as a topic on one in three magazine covers, with 1,894 mentions related to fertility, pregnancy, or motherhood. Just over half of female celebrities featured were of ‘advanced maternal age’ – 35 and above – and one in three celebrities that were mentioned as having children were over 40.
Of the 240 women, ten were reported to have used surrogate mothers or having adopted children. None of these women were mentioned as having infertility issues, the researchers said.
Only two women were reported as using fertility treatment. Not one celebrity report mentioned they used donor sperm or eggs. The authors write: ‘Widely con- sumed popular media downplays the impact of age on fertility and glamorizes pregnancy at advanced ages … with rare or no mention of ART, donor [eggs or sperm], or related health risks.’
They added: ‘This depiction per- petuates the general notion that fertility is flexible, and is highly damaging to young women.’
Professor Tim Child, of Oxford Fertility clinic, said: ‘The problem is all these Hollywood magazines with these women in their 40s who are having twins. It’s completely unrealistic.’ Calling for greater transparency, ASRM president Dr Richard Paulson said a ‘reluctance to show the challenges that often go with trying to conceive at older ages is a form of misinformation’.