WHILE having a baby is becoming more difficult for women everywhere because of economic and career reasons, the occurrence of sterility in Shenzhen women is higher than the global average.

More than 20 percent of local women suffer from sterility, a seminar on reproduction at Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital was told over the weekend.

"Environmental pollution, stress, vagina infection, repeated abortions and overage baby plans all contribute to the high occurrence of sterility," said a doctor with Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital.

"Many of these women are well-educated intellectuals and professionals. They sacrifice babies for careers, having abortions many times when young. After they've got everything, like an apartment, a private car and a high position in the society, they want a baby but find it difficult."

"Even with assisted reproduction techniques, it is difficult to help an overage woman to get pregnant," said Wang Qiong, a doctor with No. 1 Hospital Attached to Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences in Guangzhou.

She recommended women have their first baby between the ages of 23 and 30."Those over 35 will see a quick decrease in their reproduction capability and even if they get pregnant, a high occurrence of chromosome mutation threatens the health of the baby."

About 30 to 40 percent of women who try the test-tube method give birth to healthy babies, according to Dr. Wei Lihui from Beijing.

"The demand is growing for test-tube babies," said Li Rong, with the local Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital. "People from around the nation, and even from Singapore and Indonesia, came to my department for test-tube babies. The reservation for this operation has been booked until the end of next year. We do 500 to 800 such operations each year. Citywide, about 3,000 test-tube fetus implants are done annually. Of these, about 40 percent can succeed."

Overweight women, and those who do not have regular menstrual periods, are particularly prone to sterility, doctors warned.

Sterile women are also exposed to a high risk of tumor in their reproductive organs, warned Wei.

Some 500 doctors and medical researchers, including 20 top gynecologists from China and abroad, attended the seminar.

Editor: Wing