摘要：
英国科学家1月25日向女性朋友们介绍了一种可邮购的成套工具包。拥有这个工具包之后，那些迟迟不愿要小孩的职业女性们就能对未来两年自身的生育能力进行预测，从而选择更好的怀孕时机生下宝宝。
Scientists unveiled a mail-order kit yesterday that can predict a woman's fertility for two years.

英国科学家1月25日向女性朋友们介绍了一种可邮购的成套工具包。拥有这个工具包之后，那些迟迟不愿要小孩的职业女性们就能对未来两年自身的生育能力进行预测，从而选择更好的怀孕时机生下宝宝。

据《每日电讯》1月26日报道，这种名为"提前计划"的工具包使用的是一种独特的3激素检测法，以显示在未来更长的一段时间内，该妇女的卵巢内是否拥有足够的卵子以致怀孕。这3种激素包括两种卵巢激素：抑制素B和AMH以及一种垂体激素FSH。而普通的生育检测则只是对一种激素的水平进行衡量，相比之下，"提前计划"得到的关于女性卵巢健康的数据就更加精确。

愿意接受"提前计划"检测的女性会收到一个成套的工具包。这样她们就能让一位医疗专业人员（如自己的家庭保健医生）帮助他们采集血液样本。这一过程应在女性月经期的第二天或第三天完成。女性在接受该测试之前的一个月不能服用避孕药物。采集到的血样将被送到化验室进行化验分析。稍后几天，她们会收到说明此次化验结果的信件。结果将会以曲线图的形式表现出来，这样她们就能将自身的卵巢情况和该年龄段女性应有的水平进行比较。

科学家们希望，这种售价为179英镑的工具包能帮助那些因工作而推迟生育的职业女性们，更好地决定何时怀孕。

这种3激素检测法是由英国谢菲尔德大学的妇产科教授威廉姆·雷吉开发的。在这一方法推出的数月之前，《英国医疗杂志》曾发表文章警告那些迟迟不肯怀孕的女性，称她们想怀孕时，却发现自己面临着无法生育的危险。报道说，女性的生育能力会在35岁之后急剧下降，但相关调查却显示，英国目前有越来越多的妇女选择40岁时才会生最后一胎。

对此，雷吉教授表示，女性们需要更为清楚地意识到推迟怀孕所带来的风险。他说："去看生育门诊的人通常都是一些40岁左右的女性，但非常不幸的是，医生很难给她们提供帮助。有人认为试管受精是一个不错的解决问题的方法，但在她们这个年纪，试管受精后婴儿安全出生的几率也只有5％至10％。"

（国际在线独家资讯 王高山）

本稿件为国际在线专稿，媒体转载请注明稿件来源和译者姓名。

Scientists unveiled a mail-order kit yesterday that can predict a woman's fertility for two years.

Plan Ahead uses a uniquetriple hormone test to show women if they have enough eggs in their ovaries to conceive over a prolonged period of time. Standard fertility tests measure only one hormone, offering a less accurate snapshot of ovarian health.

It is hoped that the kit, which costs ?179 and became available today, will help the growing number of career women who put off starting a family to make informed decisions about how long they can wait to conceive.

The release of the test, which was developed by Prof William Ledger, of the University of Sheffield, comes just months after the British Medical Journal warned women that by delaying conception they risked finding themselves infertile when they then tried to become pregnant.

Fertility declines rapidly after the age of 35 but surveys report a growing number of women wanting to wait until their 40s to have their last child.

Prof Ledger said that women needed to be more aware of the risks of putting off pregnancy.

"Fertility clinics are full of fortysomethings who are, unfortunately, very difficult to help. They believe that IVF will be the answer to their problems but at this age there is, sadly, only a five to 10 per cent chance of a live birth.

"It is cruel that women now get to 45 with half their lives left, yet are unable to have a child. Fertility has not adapted to social changes and people need to be aware of that."

He said he hoped to develop the test so that it would eventually be able to predict when a woman would reach menopause.

The kit involves a blood test, which is taken by a health professional on the second or third day of menstruation. The sample is sent for analysis and the result is plotted on a graph so that women can compare their ovarian reserve to levels expected of females of their age. Women must not take the contraceptive pill for a month before taking the test.

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