Women given hope of post-menopause babies The fertility expert who led the research performed the caesarean section that delivered a healthy baby boy. Prof Kazuhiro Kawamura, of St Marianna University, said: "I could not sleep the night before the operation but when I saw the healthy baby my anxiety turned to delight. The couple and I hugged each other in tears. I hope IVA will be able to help patients with primary ovarian insufficiency throughout the world. One in 100 women go through the menopause before the age of 40, leaving them unable to produce eggs and become pregnant. Women have hundreds of thousands of primordial follicles, each containing one immature egg. Usually only one follicle develops to maturity each month and releases an egg into the fallopian tube for possible fertilization. In 2010 Prof Hsueh showed that blocking a protein called PTEN in mouse and human ovaries was enough to stir dormant follicles into growing and producing mature eggs. The experimental treatment has not been used widely enough to guarantee any kind of success rate but the researchers are hopeful. Prof Aaron Hsueh, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Stanford, said: "It's not known exactly how the follicles are selected for development or why these follicles stop developing in women with primary ovarian insufficiency. But our treatment was able to awaken some of the remaining primordial follicles and cause them to release eggs. Prof Valerie Baker, chief of Stanford's division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, said: "These women and their partners come to me in tears. To suddenly learn at a young age that your childbearing potential is gone is very difficult. This technique could potentially help women who have lost their egg supply for any reason.