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Should obese women be allowed to get IVF?

Posted on Nov 14th 2007 11:18AM by Martha Edwards
In Britain, a debate is raging over In Vitro Fertilization and obese women -- namely, women who are severely obese (with a BMI of 35 or higher) are being denied the treatment until they slim down. The reason? Being obese reduces a woman's chance of conceiving and it also poses health risks to both the fetus and the mother should the woman become pregnant. This would mean, for instance, that a 5'7 woman who weighed 225 lbs would be turned away.

What do you think about this decision? Is it right for the government to decide who should be allowed to have kids? I don't think so, and we have to keep in mind that BMI is considered a slightly flawed measurement of how healthy someone's weight is. But at the same time, someone with a BMI of 35 or higher is usually very obese -- it's not down to her being just a bit fat. Should we be expending valuable resources on someone who is unhealthy?

(To calculate your BMI, click here)

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