Egg freezing has become a viable option for younger women who want to delay having children, says IVF specialist Gillian Lockwood in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine (subscription required).

Egg freezing has become a viable option for younger women who want to delay having children, says IVF specialist Gillian Lockwood in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine (subscription required). Because of “Social, educational, emotional and financial pressures” many women are not ready for child-bearing until their late 30s, when their fertility has already declined significantly. But “freezing a woman’s eggs at age 30 literally ‘freezes in time’ her fertility potential and gives her the chance of a healthy pregnancy at a time of her choosing.”

Dr Lockwood, the spokesperson on ethics for the British Fertility Society, argues that three technological developments have made this possible: intracytoplasmic sperm injection, dehydro-cryoprotectants and vitrification. She claims that “now young women who have cryopreserved eggs can be offered the same chance of a live birth per embryo transfer as women undergoing conventional IVF treatment.” 

Michael Cook
egg freezing
IVF
social infertility

• Author
• Recent Posts

Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)

• How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
• House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
• Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021