His words appear to have been confirmed by a study, from the Dexeus Institute and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, which showed that the structure of frozen eggs becomes disordered during the thawing process, resulting in the embryo having too few or too many chromosomes. There is also a high incidence of miscarriage (Eur J Hum Genet, 2003; 11: 325-36).

Elsewhere, doctors have cautioned against the unseemly haste that now prevails in rushing couples into IVF - usually only a year after trying in vain for a baby. But, unless you have clinical indications of infertility, such as blocked fallopian tubes, waiting for two years may mean that you don’t need IVF at all, according to a joint study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Washington, DC, and the University of Padua.

Deanna Wilson and Lynne McTaggart