科學(xué)是第一生育力:更多人將告別不孕不育
現(xiàn)在,越來(lái)越多的美國(guó)女性選擇晚一點(diǎn)再要孩子。而生育追蹤和試管嬰兒等技術(shù)的出現(xiàn),則幫助了女性能夠在她們想要的時(shí)候懷孕。 在本周三召開(kāi)的《財(cái)富》腦力風(fēng)暴健康大會(huì)上,與會(huì)專(zhuān)家們暢談了這些生育技術(shù)的前景與局限,并暢想了它們將對(duì)人類(lèi)未來(lái)的生育模式帶來(lái)哪些影響。 一些公司認(rèn)為,女性在生育上的首要問(wèn)題是缺乏生育方面的知識(shí)。如生殖預(yù)測(cè)公司Celmatix的產(chǎn)品總監(jiān)安吉?李就表示:“越來(lái)越多的女性對(duì)她們的生殖健康缺乏一個(gè)基本的了解?!盋lematix公司建立了世界上第一種針對(duì)生殖健康的全面基因篩查,從而能夠幫助女性評(píng)估她們的生殖健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?!坝行┎辉胁挥呐詴?huì)說(shuō):‘我真希望我能早知道這些問(wèn)題?!覀兿M@項(xiàng)篩查能幫助女性提早了解這些信息。” 在生殖領(lǐng)域的創(chuàng)新還不止于此,終有一天,這些技術(shù)能讓更多不孕不育的父母懷上他們朝思暮想的孩子——比如近來(lái)引起很大爭(zhēng)議的“三父母試管嬰兒”技術(shù)。不過(guò)目前這種技術(shù)的試驗(yàn)還只能在美國(guó)以外的國(guó)家進(jìn)行。比如三父母試管嬰兒技術(shù)研發(fā)者之一、新希望生殖醫(yī)學(xué)中心主任張進(jìn)(John Zhang)醫(yī)生就曾表示:“我花了20年時(shí)間才意識(shí)到我們的國(guó)家是如此的保守”。 就連一些已經(jīng)被廣泛應(yīng)用的技術(shù)也依然存在著一定的阻礙。比如不孕不育癥的治療費(fèi)用經(jīng)常是相當(dāng)高昂的,而且卵子冷凍等技術(shù)又不一定總能保證懷孕。耶魯大學(xué)婦產(chǎn)科與生殖醫(yī)學(xué)臨床教授瑪麗?簡(jiǎn)?米肯表示:“我們不能保證一定會(huì)成功,這仍是一個(gè)新生事物?!?/p> 盡管存在以上這些問(wèn)題,但是對(duì)于很多女人來(lái)說(shuō),有了一種選擇總比走投無(wú)路要強(qiáng)得多。生殖記錄公司Glow的副董事長(zhǎng)兼美國(guó)運(yùn)營(yíng)總監(jiān)詹妮弗?泰伊表示:“卵子和胚胎冷凍技術(shù)給了你更多的時(shí)間,我認(rèn)為這為女性賦予了更多可能。” 目前生殖醫(yī)學(xué)技術(shù)面臨的種種限制不免令人感到失望,但專(zhuān)家們普遍認(rèn)為,未來(lái)依然是充滿(mǎn)希望的。米肯指出,當(dāng)下女性也有很多辦法可以改善自己的生殖健康,比如保持健康的體重,不要吸煙,提前了解家族中的其他女性都是在什么年齡絕經(jīng)的,等等。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 本文原載于Time.com。 譯者:樸成奎 |
More women in the United States are having children later in life, and the emergence of technologies like fertility trackers and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are helping women conceive at a point in their life they prefer. At the Fortune Brainstorm Health Conference on Wednesday, experts debated the promises and limitations of these kinds of frontier technologies—and speculated on what kind of impact they would have on the future of fertility. Some companies are tackling what they see as the first problem: a lack of knowledge about fertility. “More and more women need a basic understanding of their reproductive health,” says Angie Lee, chief product officer of Celmatix, a fertility-prediction company. Celmatix created the world’s first comprehensive genetic screening test for reproductive health, which helps women assess their risk for fertility problems. “Women who are experiencing infertility will say, ‘I wish I had known.’ We want to empower women to have as much of that information up front.” Innovations further down the line, like IVF that uses DNA from three parents, could one day help more couples who are struggling to conceive. But currently, experimentation for these technologies is limited to countries outside the U.S. “It took me 20 years to realize our country is very conservative,” said Dr. John Zhang, founder and director of New Hope Fertility Clinic and one of the creators of the technique used for the world’s first three-person baby. Even some of the more widely available techniques can still have obstacles. Fertility-related treatments can be prohibitively expensive, and options like egg freezing, for example, don’t always lead to pregnancy. “We don’t have guarantees,” said Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology & reproductive sciences at Yale University. “It’s still a new process.” Yet despite the issues, having a choice still feels better for many women than having no option at all. “The ability to freeze eggs or embryos to give you a little more time, I think, is empowering,” said Jennifer Tye, vice president and head of U.S. Operations at the fertility tracking company, Glow. The limitations of current technologies can be frustrating, but experts are hopeful for the future. As for right now, Minkin points out that there’s plenty that women can do to improve their fertility profile: maintain a healthy weight, don’t smoke and find out what age women in your family typically go through menopause. This article originally appeared in Time.com |
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