family history of osteoporosis who are unable to take hormone replacement therapy due to medical reasons,
and young women who have needed hysterectomies due to diseases such as endometriosis. If anything can
spare these women further trauma, then brilliant. I’m also all for helping women who are genetically
predisposed to an unfairly early menopause and find themselves in hormonal free-fall before they’ve had a
chance to have a family.
The procedure, called ovarian tissue cryopreservation, is said to be straight forward and relatively painless.
It simply involves removing a small piece of the ovary via keyhole surgery when a woman is in her twenties
or thirties, which is then frozen at -150C and re-implanted as she enters the menopause, be that medically
or naturally. At this point, the re-implanted tissue kick-starts her hormones back to normal (premenopausal)
levels and it’s all systems go.
Currently, the surgery, including freezing and re-implanting, costs up to £14,000, which for some women
is the price of a handbag and a holiday.
Parts of it have been uncomfortable and annoying, but it has also been
interesting, it has changed me as a person and made me so much more
aware of myself
While I am delighted that young women who have already had a miserable time medically can be helped
with this revolutionary treatment (and I hope they get it for free on the NHS as soon as possible), I do worry
that there is a more sinister market for this kind of work.
Apparently, one private clinic practitioner in Birmingham, where the treatment is already available, has
promised his daughter cryopreservation for her 30th birthday. Hmm, one wonders if she actually wants it or
whether she’d rather have a new nose or a second-hand car.
I suppose the thing that bothers me most is that there’s an element to this that smacks of the usual distaste
for women getting older. How dare we be hot and sweaty and go around slamming doors? Wouldn’t it be
better all-round if women just signed up for a tiny bit of keyhole surgery and went about their business in a
cuter and sexier way until they die?
Please don’t think for a moment I’m dismissing the incredible life-changing difference this pioneering
treatment can do for the people who need it, especially if it restores fertility to women who would like to
have children – how miraculous is that? I’m just wary of how fashionable it might become among those who
don’t really need it, but can afford to pay for it, a bit like botox and filler and those big puffy lips that some
women buy.
I have a problem dealing with the concept that because the menopause is considered unattractive, we
should do away with it, or put it off until we’re really old and ugly because who cares how we cope with it
then? At least you won't be at work, huffing around the office, annoying everyone by opening every window
and crying over leaving your favourite scarf on the bus.
Personally, I find the idea of having to deal with the menopause on top of every other geriatric health
problem slightly off-putting. Imagine changing the batteries in your hearing aid while having a hot flush, no
thanks.
For me, the menopause has been a rite of passage and yes, parts of it have been uncomfortable and
annoying, but it has also been interesting, it has changed me as a person and it has made me so much more
aware of who I really am.