The perils for career women who freeze their eggs
When Rita Ora announced she was freezing her eggs at the age of 26, saying: ‘ Why not put them away and then you never have to worry about it again?’, many were shocked by her brutally matter-of-fact approach to motherhood.
But she was merely taking advantage of modern reproductive techniques. Indeed, this week, fertility experts confirmed the practical wisdom of the singer’s actions.
Research shows that women who wait to freeze their eggs in their late-30s — the vast majority who undergo the procedure — have very little chance of success. These findings contradict the impression given by fertility clinics which don’t necessarily tell older women about the low chances of conceiving.
While it is easy to criticise these clinics for making money by offering women the opportunity to try to have babies at a future date of their choosing, I believe this raises deeply worrying moral issues.
The suggestion is that, like the famous Martini advert, women can have a baby ‘ any time, any place, anywhere’. The implication, too, is that they don’t need to be in a permanent relationship. An anonymous sperm donor will suffice.
All that’s required to become a
EXCITEMENT that Walkers Crisps have announced they are ditching their expensive, old-fashioned wrinkled bags. But then I realised they didn’t mean Gary Lineker’s interminable years as brand ambassador had finally come to an end.
mother is some careful forward planning, a few thousand pounds and a deep freeze. This is part of so-called ‘reproductive rights’ — covering contraception, abortion, IVF, sterilisation and now egg-freezing — most of it free on the nhS.
My concern is that egg-freezing diverts women from the one thing that truly can make for happiness — developing a relationship with a partner with whom to have a child.
The chances of becoming a mother in your late-30s using eggs that have been thawed out of their cryoprotectant freezing solution are very low — 85 per cent of eggs don’t survive the freezing process and only eight per cent of those thawed and used lead to a live birth.
Of course, IVF and egg-freezing have brought happiness to countless women. Rita Ora may find it the best method of achieving motherhood.
But how I wish that young women — and men — would put more effort into their relationships, and a little less into lifestyles that rob them of the chance to get such a gift.