Informative breakfast THE TRUTH-Next Fertility
LA VERDAD and Next Fertility celebrate the meeting ‘Assisted reproduction and birth: where are we going?’
The decline in birth rates is evidence reflected in the figures. According to INE data, Spain had 7.9 births per thousand inhabitants in 2020, a figure much lower than that registered, for example, in 2008, when this value stood at 11.28. For its part, 2019 closed with Spain as the second country in Europe with the lowest birth rate, as pointed out in its report by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).
This information on paper only confirms a reality that is already noticeable in Spanish homes, where fewer and fewer baby cries are heard. Job insecurity, the increase in the age of emancipation or social changes have turned the population pyramids upside down, showing an increasingly aging society.
The experts participating in the event advocate for public policies that go beyond economics and encourage the population to have children at younger ages
To analyze these causes, assess the regional situation and propose feasible solutions that improve birth rates, LA VERDAD and Next Fertility organized, yesterday, the informative breakfast ‘Assisted Reproduction and Birth Rate: Where Are We Going?’. The meeting, moderated by the journalist Beatriz Romero and held at the facilities of this newspaper, was attended by the biologist and director of the Next Fertility laboratory, Emilio Gómez, who assessed the birth rates in Spain, a country in which “in 1975 the average number of children per woman was 2.7, while in 2020 it was 1.18”. To these unflattering data, the expert added the increase in the age at which women have their first child, which has gone “from 25 years in 1975 to 31 now,” he noted, which often leads to problems for have offspring. “After 35 the chances of pregnancy decrease. A fertility problem that at 32 is ridiculous, at 38 it is important ».
Emilio Gómez: «In 1975 the average number of children per woman was 2.7 and in 2020 it was 1.18»
This perception was shared by the sociologist from the University of Murcia Juan Carlos Solano, who reviewed “a change in the demographic regime”, in which he highlights the delay in “the age at which one has offspring, mainly due to economic and social factors” . In the long term, the sociologist predicted that the birth rate will continue to fall, “as long as pronatalist policies are not proposed that support the reconciliation of professional and family life.”
Lack of supports
Job instability and the difficulty in reconciling work and family life are two of the great obstacles when it comes to having children. “We have a labor market problem that affects the ability to create a life project,” said Juan Carlos Solano, who highlighted the high rates of youth unemployment and the increase in the age of emancipation. In this line, the gynecologist Elena Vicente showed herself, who every day sees in her consultation a population with “job and couple instability. The jobs are very precarious. A woman achieves economic stability around 37 », she explained.
According to Next Fertility psychologist Victoria Andreu, all these inconveniences add up to a change in mentality in the new generations, “who now prioritize other things before getting married and having children,” she pointed out.
Among the solutions that were put on the table, Juan Carlos Solano called for “real conciliation policies that are not just economic,” he emphasized, while Elena Vicente called for more public nurseries and the UMU sociologist opted for co-responsibility in the tasks upbringing between men and women and for maintaining the equality of maternity and paternity leave “which eliminates a factor of discrimination in the labor market”.
The numbers rise
The increase in the age at which one has the first child has generated an exponential increase in people who use fertility clinics. “In 2003, 80,000 assisted reproduction cycles were carried out nationwide and in 2019 there were 148,000,” said Emilio Gómez, adding: “The ovary has an expiration date, but most women do not know it because their gynecologist does not explain it to them. ».
Among the people who use these clinics, the gynecologist at Next Fertility Rebeca Jiménez highlighted that 85% are couples made up of a man and a woman, 13% are couples of women and 2% are women who want to be single mothers. To all of them, Rebeca Jiménez tries to provide a safe space in the consultation at a complicated moment in which she prevails “fear of failure and uncertainty”. The professional tries to convey confidence to them, which is, in her opinion, “the basis of success. They have to see you as an approachable and empathic person.”
This confidence is also a key aspect for José Juani López, a former patient of Next Fertility, who became a mother of triplets at the age of 39 through in vitro fertilization (IVF). This woman highlighted the difficulty “of wanting to be a mother and not getting it” and encouraged those who are going through this process to try it “as many times as they think necessary.”
In closing, he emphasized the importance of staying strong not only in body, but also in mind. “Mood helps a lot,” she concluded.
Juan Carlos Solano. Sociologist of the UMU
“We need policies that support conciliation”
A “real conciliation” is the main bet of Juan Carlos Solano to encourage the birth rate in Spain. The sociologist, who calls for measures beyond the economic, called for the implementation of “policies that support the balance between family and professional life.” In this regard, Solano gave as an example of good practices EU countries “such as France, which spends 3.6% of its GDP on family policies, or Sweden, which uses 3.8%”, figures much higher than those of Spain, which only invests “1.6% of its GDP” in it. To these measures, the expert added the need to encourage co-responsibility in raising children and the obligation to maintain equity in paternity and maternity leave, a measure implemented by the Government since January 2021 (both parents have 16 weeks sick leave) which for Solano has helped to eliminate one of the factors of labor discrimination suffered by women.
Emilio Gomez. Biologist and director of the Next Fertility laboratory
«Artificial intelligence helps to make decisions in the laboratory»
Biologist Emilio Gómez valued technology as a key element in the future of assisted reproduction. In this sense, he highlighted that fertility clinics are already beginning to have artificial intelligence in their ranks, which helps “to make decisions in the laboratory related to embryo quality”, while predicting the use of new tools to automate processes such as ovarian stimulation. On the other hand, he also emphasized the importance of technology in genetics, an area “where we remain ignorant. There are 20% of patients who still do not know why they are infertile. To finish, Gómez predicted the use of innovation for the creation of sperm and ovules in the laboratory in the distant future. “It’s not something that’s going to happen any time soon, but it will happen.”
Elena Vincent. Gynecologist
“Spain is one of the countries in the world with the lowest birth rate”
The gynecologist Elena Vicente emphasized the instability experienced by the youngest to become parents. Thanks to her work in consultation, which women of all ages pass through, she has been able to observe the difficulty of currently having a work and sentimental balance at an early age, which considerably delays the moment in which it is decided to have children. “Spain is one of the countries in the world with the lowest birth rate,” she lamented. To solve it, the professional she proposed more state aid that encourages women to continue studying and developing when they have children. “If motherhood and education could be combined, that would improve our future as a country,” she added, while calling for a real conciliation through, for example, the increase in public nurseries in the areas where the companies are concentrated. “If there were more support, people would be more encouraged to have children.”
Rebecca Jimenez. Next Fertility Gynecologist
“What makes the difference is that the patient connects with you”
Establishing a good doctor-patient relationship and generating an environment of trust with those who come to her consultation are the two keys that support the daily work of the gynecologist Rebeca Jiménez. This Next Fertility professional considers these two aspects to be “fundamental for the treatment to work”, since “they trust you and understand that what you tell them is the best” depends on it. For her Jiménez, “what makes the difference is that the patient connects with you”, she added, while she emphasized the importance of seeing the expert as “an accessible, empathetic and coherent person”. These qualities help create a safe environment “in which to explain their real situation to them, but at the same time giving them positive aspects that they can cling to in order to persist, which is difficult for economic or emotional reasons.”
Jose Juani Lopez. mother of triplets
«It is very difficult to want to be a mother and not be able to achieve it»
José Juani López is the living image of the success of fertility treatments. After an operation to remove several polyps in the uterus and two unsuccessful artificial inseminations, this woman decided to undergo in vitro fertilization at the age of 38, which had a happy ending. Of the two embryos that were implanted, one of them duplicated, which turned her and her wife into mothers of three little girls who are now six years old. “At 8 weeks they told me they were triplets,” she recalls, as she smiles as she recalls her happiness on the one hand and her partner’s concern on the other. The success of her treatment is the memory that pushes him to encourage those women who are going through the same thing to try it. “The process is not difficult. The difficult thing is wanting to be a mother and not getting it », she indicated, adding: « You have to try as many times as you think necessary ».
Victoria Andrew. Psychologist at Next Fertility
“Psychologists carry out support and accompaniment work”
Fertility treatments involve physical and emotional wear and tear that the psychologist Victoria Andreu knows well. To minimize the negative effects of the process, Andreu carries out “a work of support and accompaniment” for the person and the couple, to whom he offers “strategies to deal with the situation and relaxation techniques to take that moment as well as possible” , especially the 15 days of waiting between when a treatment is carried out and it is discovered whether it has had an effect or not. On a more personal level, the professional also promotes tools among couples that improve communication between them and help them reconnect on a sexual level, “because something that was previously pleasurable in these processes becomes mechanical and programmed, so we need to recapture that magic. Fertility treatments are a roller coaster ride,” she said.
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