Menopause & motherhood

A doctor has put a question mark on the belief that women can't conceive after menopause is reached.

A doctor has put a question mark on the belief that women can't conceive after menopause, when he performed an ovarian tissue transplant on an infertile cancer patient, who went on to conceive naturally.

The breakthrough by Brussels university professor Jacques Donnez, which emerged at a fertility conference in Berlin, has left many surprised.

"I wouldn't recommend it for non-emergency cases now but if I found out there was a 30 percent pregnancy success rate, as with IVF, why not," The Sun quoted Dr Kutluk Oktay of New York's Cornell University as saying.

The 25-year-old lymph cancer patient had slices of ovarian tissue removed before having chemo and radiotherapy treatment, which rendered her infertile and 'post-menopausal'.

The tissue, which was frozen and stored, was successfully grafted back into her body after the treatment. Four months later her periods resumed and now she is expecting a baby girl through normal sex.

Though the transplant has revolutionized the medical world, at the same time it has also raised concerns of misuse of the technique by menopausal women trying to "defeat nature".