Parental project in 324 patients with premature ovarian failure

• Published in: Annales d'endocrinologie Vol. 83; no. 6; pp. 454 - 455
• Main Authors: Cambray, Solange, Dubreuil, Sophie, Dulon, Jérôme, Tejedor, Isabelle, Touraine, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Masson SAS 01.12.2022
• Subjects: Endocrinology and Metabolism; Internal Medicine
• ISSN: 0003-4266
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ando.2022.09.008

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is currently defined by at least 4 months of amenorrhea or spaniomenorrhea and two FSH readings above 25 mIU/mL before the age of 40. The aim of this study is to determine how many patients with POF had a parental project after the diagnosis and, when applicable, by what mean they had children. We performed a cross-sectional, descriptive study. We conducted a survey of patients who had been hospitalized for POF in the department of endocrinology and reproductive medicine at La Pitié-Salpêtrière between 31/05/1991 and 12/01/2021. We included patients who continued to be followed up regularly by our department or were contacted by mail or cell phone between June and September 2021. We excluded patients with Turner syndrome, POF secondary to oncological treatment and patients under 18 at the time of the survey. In total, 324 patients were analyzed. Among the patients, 72.2% did not have children before the diagnosis of POF. The mean age of patients was 30.1 years old at the diagnosis of POF. Among the patients, 89.8% had secondary amenorrhea. POF was idiopathic in 77.8%, genetic in 17.3%, autoimmune in 4.6%. Mean follow-up time between the day hospital and the survey was 8.1 years. The mean age of patients at the time of the survey was 40.5 years. Among the patients, 67% had a parental project after the diagnosis. Among these patients, 41% had at least one child. Among these, 53.9% had oocyte donation, 25.8% had spontaneous pregnancy, 13.5% adopted, 5.6% had ovarian stimulation and 1 patient had embryo hosting. Spontaneous pregnancy rate was 8.6% in the whole cohort. Having children after a diagnosis of POF is not uncommon, but most often results from oocyte donation. This study will provide enlightened information for newly diagnosed women on the possibilities of a parental project after POF diagnosis.