‘Doing it for myself’: The women freezing their eggs to raise their chances of conceiving
SINGAPORE: Afterwards six years of trying to become significant – including multiple rounds of IVF – Chloe (non her real proper name) was not nigh to concede defeat.
"I'thou taking a break, only I know biologically I'm however ageing," said the 40-twelvemonth-onetime manager in an email to Channel NewsAsia.
Like many women who go through the arduous journey of attempting to excogitate, Chloe was anxious nigh her ticking biological clock.
"I wanted a backup plan, in instance one day I do determine to effort again," she said.
Chloe first heard about egg freezing afterwards reading an commodity that Google was paying for its employees to undertake the process. While her company or wellness insurance did not comprehend such treatment, Chloe was adamant to secure "Program B".
Last yr, Chloe, a Singapore permanent resident, flew to a fertility clinic in Sydney to freeze her eggs. It wasn't a snap conclusion – it took her about four years to consider her options.
"I ended up going for my gut instinct," said Chloe.
"I knew that if I didn't try everything I could to have children, I would have regretted not having my eggs frozen."
EGG QUALITY DROPS WITH Age
Chloe faced an issue that all women go through – the quality of her eggs would diminish over time.
A woman is born with a finite number of eggs which continuously depletes throughout her lifetime, said Dr Lim Lei Jun from Sunfert International Fertility Eye in Kuala Lumpur.
"Women are nearly fertile in their twenties and early thirties. After the age of 30, egg quantity and quality starts to decline," said Dr Lim.
The rate of refuse is steepest after 37 or 38 years one-time.
"Even the healthiest diets or the best workout plans cannot reverse this fact."
Older eggs too take a college chance of being genetically aberrant, such every bit having an actress chromosome which causes Downwards's syndrome, said Dr Lim.
Egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, therefore provides women the possibility of preserving younger and possibly healthier eggs until they are set to start a family unit.
The process first involves stimulating the ovaries with hormones to produce multiple eggs, which is similar to the initial stage of IVF.
The eggs are then retrieved using a needle, and subsequently frozen in subzero temperature for later use.
WHY ARE WOMEN FREEZING THEIR EGGS?
Some women choose to freeze their eggs for medical reasons.
For example, a woman who has to undergo cancer handling would freeze her eggs since chemotherapy could adversely affect her fertility.
In Singapore, just women with justifiable medical weather are allowed to freeze their eggs.
Because of this, healthy women in Singapore are going overseas to countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and the US to undergo social egg freezing.
While career demands play a part, virtually women freeze their eggs because they have non found a suitable partner with whom to start a family unit, said Dr Suresh Nair from Seed of Life, a fertility centre at Mount Elizabeth Novena.
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Speaking to Channel NewsAsia, Dr Nair said women – usually in their tardily 30s – find themselves with the looming question: "Volition I be childless forever - even if I meet Mr Right?"
In 2017, the proportion of singles amidst Singaporeans beyond most historic period groups increased, with the biggest rise among women anile 25 to 29.
Women in Singapore are expected to juggle then much and meet society's expectations, said Dr Nair.
"They must exercise well in university, but (too) practice well at her workplace. She must exist a good daughter, must exist a expert wife … and produce children, (and) look subsequently them," he listed.
Egg freezing can give time to plan out a futurity, along with a suitable partner and stable finances, Dr Nair said, adding that he has seen an increase over recent years in queries well-nigh egg freezing.
Sunfert, located in Kuala Lumpur'south affluent suburb Bangsar, said information technology receives an boilerplate of 1 Singaporean woman each month wanting to freeze her eggs.
The dispensary charges around RM20,000 to RM25,000 (S$6,600 to Southward$viii,300) for the procedure, which includes fertility medications, clinic visits, and the egg retrieval itself.
Nonetheless, this doesn't cover the storage fee, future thawing or fertilization when the woman is ready to use her egg.
Though the hefty price tag itself might be a deterrent for many, Chloe said the cost was "not an issue for my peace of mind".
NOT 100 PER CENT FOOLPROOF
Even if a woman had adept eggs that can be frozen, other factors also play a role in the success of a pregnancy, cautioned Dr Nair.
"Your womb ages, you age, your centre ages, your lungs age, everything ages.
"Pregnancy is a massive onslaught to the female body. All sorts of other bug can arise," he said.
According to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Periodical, an older pregnant woman faces an increased risk of certain conditions, such as gestational diabetes and preterm delivery of a baby with low birth weight.
The 2022 report also cited a study showing that the success rate of a clinical pregnancy using a frozen egg was but 4.5 to 12 per cent.
This data was derived generally from eggs obtained from women younger than 30 years erstwhile.
In response to Channel NewsAsia's queries, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that egg freezing, like other assisted reproductive techniques, was "not a guaranteed solution to delaying parenthood".
"The risks of developing age-related complications during pregnancy are not mitigated by egg freezing," said a ministry building spokesperson.
The ministry too had to be "mindful" of the potential ethical and social implications associated with legalising egg freezing for non-medical reasons, added the spokesperson.
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"Fulfilling 1'southward marriage and parenthood aspirations sooner increases the chances of conceiving children naturally," said MSF, calculation that age-related fertility bug tin can affect both men and women.
"There is no amend substitute to having healthy children than when couples are relatively young and salubrious," said the spokesperson.
MSF added that the Government was advisedly reviewing the possibility of allowing egg freezing for non-medical reasons, while besides bearing in listen the diverse ethical and social implications.
NO Need TO Exist EMBARRASSED ABOUT FERTILITY TREATMENTS
Fifty-fifty though fertility might be considered a taboo topic in some Asian societies, women in Singapore are condign more open in discussing this issue, said Dr Nair.
Despite the common misconception that egg freezing unsaid being a spinster, this is a non-consequence for women, he added.
"Most women are beyond that, they don't care virtually that anymore," said Dr Nair.
"They say: 'I volition choose who I want to marry … I don't need men to support me. I am fully independent'."
He added that women – single or married - should non be embarrassed to talk about their plans to take children.
Although some parents may sometimes exist antagonistic towards fertility treatment methods, a woman should be able to brand her own choices, said Dr Nair.
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The virtually mutual reactions women receive from family or friends well-nigh their decision to freeze their eggs are reactions like: "Don't exist so finicky, you lot just get someone lah", relayed Dr Nair.
But for Chloe, people'southward opinions did non thing.
"It's a personal choice … Don't worry (about) what others say about it. Exercise information technology for yourself," she said.
"Back up from others is important, but you need your ain internal strength and courage to exercise this."
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/social-egg-freezing-singapore-women-ivf-239161
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