Creates “false optimism” for women

In the UK, there are 45 IVF clinics which offer an egg freezing service for women who want to keep their reproductive options open. Official statistics show that 78 women froze their eggs in 2007 for non-medical reasons, more than twice as many as the year before. (There were just 28 for medical reasons.)

But IVF pioneer Lord Robert Winston has denounced the growing popularity of egg-freezing as a "confidence trick" and declares that "clinics are building up false optimism for women."

"Women are paying a very high premium for an expensive ‘insurance’ policy. And this policy should not be sold at the present time. The whole thing is a bit of a confidence trick," he told the London Telegraph.

"If a woman goes for egg freezing and produces six to 10 eggs that’s a dangerous quantity. It will be the result of hyperstimulation, which increases the risk of chromosome defects. Then, say, all the eggs freeze and half then fertilise (after thawing) then the chance of getting one or two viable embryos is not guaranteed." ~ London Telegraph, July 2

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Michael Cook

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