Goalkeeper Mentor reveals plan to freeze her eggs
Geva Mentor, one of the leading members of England’s World Cup squad, has revealed she plans to freeze her eggs after the tournament to pursue her dream of becoming a mother once she retires.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper will be integral to England’s hopes of winning a first World Cup on home soil when it begins in Liverpool on Friday week, but she is also one of the most prominent players in the Suncorp Super Netball League in Australia, where latest figures show that one in 25 babies is now born through IVF.
Egg-freezing is a process by which a woman’s eggs are collected and vitrified. They can be stored for years without degrading before being unfrozen and fertilised. The freezing procedure alone can cost up to £4,000 in Australia.
There are relatively few examples of high-profile sportswomen revealing that they have frozen their eggs – US boxer Christina Cruz is a notable exception – but Mentor has told The Daily Telegraph that she hopes her decision will encourage other athletes to consider it, to increase their options on starting a family once their playing careers are over.
“I’m completely open about it all,” said Mentor, who is co-captain of Melbourne side Collingwood Magpies. “Babies are a real hot topic over in Australia and it’s one thing we’re looking at working on with the Australian Netball Association.
“For girls coming through, they can look at whether they want to freeze their eggs in their twenties. It means they can keep playing or they can try and conceive naturally. If that doesn’t work, at least they’ve got a back-up plan.
“It’s something I wish I’d done probably six, seven or eight years ago. It’s something I’m going through now. Apparently, I’ve got the eggs of a 26-year-old. It’s one of those things where you just want to have security. At the end of the day, I would love a family. Not everyone does, but I would love one.
“It’s funny, the more girls I speak to out here, a lot of them are going through it. It is quite personal, but it’s something that should be an open topic to talk about.”
Mentor, who has just published her autobiography, Leap, has also revealed she confronted head coach Tracey Neville in front of her England team-mates in the buildup to the Commonwealth Games last year, after the Roses lost a warm-up match to a side from Australia’s Suncorp league.
Mentor, who was going through a divorce at the time, reflects on the period as being one of the most challenging in her career.
“I just confronted Tracey in front of everybody because I’d been in the game for so long. I was like, ‘Enough is enough’,” said Mentor, who had settled for Commonwealth bronze at Melbourne in 2006 and four years later in Delhi. “Whether I didn’t have the confidence or it didn’t feel like it was my role, I had been there where a lot of those girls hadn’t. As hard as it probably was for myself and Tracey, I feel better for having said it. We can have a laugh about it now.”
While she might have committed her future to Australian netball, she
‘It’s something I wish I’d done years ago. It’s personal, but it should be an open topic’
is anticipating the surge in interest the sport will enjoy in the aftermath of the tournament in Liverpool.
“Whether we come away with the cherry on top or not, I feel like it’s more than about us,” she said. “It’s about leaving a legacy and the sport in a better place.’’
Leap, by Geva Mentor, published by Coronet, £20.