Women freeze eggs for sense of certainty

WITH their dating lives at the mercy of lockdowns, scores of single women are securing the best shot at motherhood by freezing their eggs while they wait for the right man and the right time.

Fertility provider Genea reported a 40 per cent increase nationwide in egg freezing in 2020-21 compared with 2018-19 with women aged 35 to 39 being the most popular consumers.

Although egg freezing is no guarantee of a successful pregnancy, women are not afraid to fork out thousands on the treatment for peace of mind.

“A lot of people have missed family and friends and community, and have really thought about what they’d like to see in their future. (It has) made them want to be proactive and think what can I do to have control over that,” Genea general manager Kathleen Waite said.

“Women have told us it’s really empowering. When they are in their mid-to-late 30s and feeling anxiety about am I going to meet Mr Right? It takes the pressure off them. It’s not a guarantee but something they have in their back pocket.”

Among this cohort of women was Bachelor finalist and podcast host Brittany Hockley.

Ms Hockley said she had started the process when she was “33, been single for a decade and not even close to a having a boyfriend” but by the time she had the procedure she was in the early days of her romance with tennis star Jordan Thompson.

“It’s not just about a partner. I wasn’t ready for a baby, I wasn’t ready in my own life,” she said.

“I wanted to give myself the best chance to have the option when the time comes. It was such a weight off my shoulders ... I know I’ve done everything I could have to put myself in the best position.”

The Life Uncut host said when she researched the process, she found plenty of women were freezing their eggs in secret.

“Women were all being very secretive about it. There was a lot of stigma around it, it’s part of the reason I want to speak so publicly about it,” Ms Hockley said. “A lot of women associate it with failure, like society has put this pressure on them to be 30 and married with kids and a picket fence.”

Psychologist Lindsay Pearlman said the pressure to meet societal expectations caused a lot of anxiety for women during the pandemic.

“People felt like their lives were put on hold and they are running out of time,” Ms Pearlman said.

“From an anxiety point of view, it’s tough for a lot of women to follow those societal expectations. The pandemic has created uncertainty and egg freezing is a way of feeling more in control.”