Women freezing their eggs to allow men to get ahead at work

WOMEN are freezing their eggs in increasing numbers because men fear becoming a father will harm their career, according to new research.

Fertility experts have warned that the more equal demands of modern parenthood mean men are putting off having children to avoid extra costs on their time. A study shows the lack of a male partner willing to embark on parenthood is an increasingly significant factor driving women to freeze their eggs at a cost of around £7,000.

Yale University conducted interviews with 150 women who had chosen to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons. Elective egg freezing due to career considerations was the least common of the reasons given.

Those with partners, who comprised 15 per cent of the total, said they froze their eggs either because their male partner was not ready to have a child, the relationship was too new or uncertain, or the partner simply refused. Further research by the University of Copenhagen, which interviewed men in their 20s, found they commonly wanted to succeed in their careers before considering children.

Prof Nicholas Macklon, from the University of Southampton, said: “She may have found Mr Right but convincing him that now is the right time to start a family is probably going to be harder because men realise they are going to have to take more of the burden. It’s a slightly ironic outcome of the changes to society.”

Latest figures show were 1,173 egg freezing cycles in the UK per year, according to the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority, up from only 29 in 2001. Data from the Brussels Centre for Reproductive Medicine between 2009 and 2017 showed that the average age women froze their eggs was 36.

The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Barcelona also heard that divorce settlements in the US increasingly include payments for egg freezing.