STOP the CLOCK

Im not sure why women would want to still have ovarian activity and menstruation after menopause, on to continue with this to age 50.
- Cape Town-based gynaecologist Dr Marcus Faesen

IN August last year, IVF specialists in the UK made world headlines when they announced they were offering women the chance to outsmart our biological clocks – to keep menopause at bay and prolong our fertility by as much as 20 years. For those pushing 40 who are still hoping to have a baby (but are not yet with the right partner), or who dread the prospect of menopause and its infamous symptoms and health risks, it surely sounds too good to be true.

To date, at least 10 women, aged 22 to 36, have taken up the offer by Professor Simon Fishel, chief executive of ProFam and founder of the CARE Fertility Group in Birmingham. The procedure they’ve undergone is ovarian tissue freezing and grafting. It’s by no means new; it’s been offered for years to young cancer patients facing chemotherapy who want to preserve