Alex Kingston fears IVF brought on early menopause

Actress Alex Kingston fears the intensive in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments she underwent in her 30s brought on early menopause.

The former ER star, 51, underwent 13 rounds of IVF before eventually giving birth to her daughter Salome, her only child with former partner Florian Haertel, in 2001.

Kingston has now revealed she has suffered subsequent health troubles and fears her struggle to have a child had a long-term impact on her body.

She tells Britain's You magazine, "I was perimenopausal very early. I have no proof, but I feel it was linked to the IVF and the different hormones I was taking... There are things that I think aren't fully explained to women when they are going through all of that. It (the IVF) was very tough. You are so desperate. You don't really understand what the side effects can be. That's what they don't tell you in the medical profession. I put on weight with all the IVF - it's so insidious because it happens so slowly and then it's almost impossible to get rid of."