I think this is one of those areas
in medicine
where we actually need government
to play a role.
I don't think it should be
up to doctors like me
or fertility specialists
to decide who gets access
to fertility treatment.
But the government
should be able to decide?
It's not that simple.
Let me explain why.
I know because, like, you know...
Normally I'm totally
anti government intervention
in anything to do with health.
Except for now!
All right.
In this one time, I think
this should never be
left up to just a couple of doctors
with an interest.
When you're at the cutting edge
of anything scientific
you're going to get enthusiasts
and so they're going to want
to push the envelope,
try to discover new things.
If you are an older person
and you need hi-tech stuff
to get pregnant
you've got a much greater chance of
having problems during the pregnancy
but then you've also got a chance
of having a pre-term baby
that can have quite a lot
of special needs.
But if we're going to expect
the community to fund it,
then the community should have a say
in who it's going to fund it to.
I do wonder if we're sort of talking
about the cost to society
of older parents.
Older parents, one would imagine,
would be more financially secure.
I guess they may even be able
to afford, financially at least,
to look after themselves.
Is there not merit
to the argument that
they should be able to get to a point
where they are financially secure
and then try and have a child?
The other side is that you're much
more likely to run into troubles...
medical troubles.
What's the cut-off for you?
When do you think women should stop
having babies?
The logical answer is to say
something around the age of 52, 55.
The average age of menopause
in Australia is 52.
The success rate as you approach
early 50s plummets.
Should it be up to anyone to decide
other than the individual parents
though?
The individual mother and father
choosing to have a child?
Just because you want something
doesn't mean
you should be able to have it
and just because you can do it
doesn't mean you should.
What is your advice, though,
to the women of Australia?
Don't let it be something that
you just think will happen one day
because the facts are that for a
sizeable proportion of the population
it doesn't just happen.
What I'm trying to do is raise
awareness with school-aged children.
I actually want school-aged children
to be taught about
the biological limits.
Biology isn't politically correct.
Biology didn't live through
the sixties
and have Germaine Greer
fight its fight for it
and bring feminism to the fore.
Biology is really old-fashioned
and biology dictates that spontaneous
pregnancy after the age of 35
decreases fairly rapidly.
So we can't have it all.
Because by the age of 35,
if you're a woman in this country,
odds are your career
is just about to take off.
- Exactly.
- Your career is getting on track.
But if you're saying biology
doesn't discriminate
then you have to adhere
to those principles
and cut your career short.
No, no, what you need to do
is to have all the information
to make the right choices for you.
And you're right,
you can't have it all.
You can have it all,
just not at the same time
and not necessarily when you want it.
Dr Gino, thank you very much
for joining us.
Thank you.
