Doctors to consider barring obese women from fertility treatments
Posted September 21, 2011 9:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canada’s doctors are considering barring obese women from fertility treatments after research shows some of those women who undergo in-vitro fertilization treatments have higher risks of complications.
The question will be discussed at a conference in Toronto this week.
Critics are calling the proposal discriminatory. One doctor told the Globe and Mail that smoking also presents risks, including pre-eclampsia and small babies, but fertility clinics still treat smokers.
Age is another risk factor, and the older a woman is, the more difficult it is for her to conceive. Waiting for a patient to lose weight before starting IVF treatments could decrease one risk factor while increasing another.
A woman is considered obese is she has a Body Mass Index of 30 or more. At least one clinic in Ottawa is already refusing to treat women with a BMI of 35 or more.
With files from The Canadian Press