4 ms·

Though unplanned pregnancies may skew young which is probably good for (reduces) infant mortality. IVF on the other hand very likely skews older, and I wonder

by kyleee 2y ago

Though unplanned pregnancies may skew young which is probably good for (reduces) infant mortality. IVF on the other hand very likely skews older, and I wonder if those needing IVF are also less healthy on average than non-IVF.

_heimdall 2y ago
This would be my assumption, though I haven't found data on it and frankly it is a pretty politically unpopular topic to research. The human body wants to reproduce as its default state. When it can't, there must be physical or environmental reasons (or the likely rare genetic condition that can be a primary cause of infertility).
- mensetmanusman 2y ago
  The human body after ~ two decades of artificial hormones can struggle though.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    For sure. The human body after decades of low level environmental toxins can also struggle. I raise this only as personal guess and don't have data to support it, but I very much expect that issues often seen today with what are referred to as "geriatric pregnancies" are related more to the consistent drip of toxins in our water, air, and foods rather than an issue driven only by aging.
    - mensetmanusman 2y ago
      Interesting thought. Would it require matrix-level test tube humans to decouple the effects of age from the world environment everyone share? Humans will probably always deal with air issues from lightning induced fires though. I guess if we look at maternal deaths versus time for healthy BMI folks from the ages of 20-21 over the last century we could gather some insight.
      - _heimdall 2y ago
        Well that's really why there isn't solid data for it, how do you have a control group when the problem is universal? Historical data may help a bit, though I expect it'd still be really hard to narrow down enough factors to get anything meaningful out of it. There are so many environmental changes from our food, what's in our water, pladtic and chemical uses in everyday products, radio frequencies we're exposed to, etc.

by kyleee 2y ago

_heimdall 2y ago

This would be my assumption, though I haven't found data on it and frankly it is a pretty politically unpopular topic to research. The human body wants to reproduce as its default state. When it can't, there must be physical or environmental reasons (or the likely rare genetic condition that can be a primary cause of infertility).

mensetmanusman 2y ago
The human body after ~ two decades of artificial hormones can struggle though.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  For sure. The human body after decades of low level environmental toxins can also struggle. I raise this only as personal guess and don't have data to support it, but I very much expect that issues often seen today with what are referred to as "geriatric pregnancies" are related more to the consistent drip of toxins in our water, air, and foods rather than an issue driven only by aging.
  - mensetmanusman 2y ago
    Interesting thought. Would it require matrix-level test tube humans to decouple the effects of age from the world environment everyone share? Humans will probably always deal with air issues from lightning induced fires though. I guess if we look at maternal deaths versus time for healthy BMI folks from the ages of 20-21 over the last century we could gather some insight.
    - _heimdall 2y ago
      Well that's really why there isn't solid data for it, how do you have a control group when the problem is universal? Historical data may help a bit, though I expect it'd still be really hard to narrow down enough factors to get anything meaningful out of it. There are so many environmental changes from our food, what's in our water, pladtic and chemical uses in everyday products, radio frequencies we're exposed to, etc.