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Career women leave egg freezing too late
By Sophie Goodchild, Evening Standard Last updated at 13:39pm on 29.11.07Career women in their twenties who want to delay motherhood should freeze their eggs, according to fertility experts.
Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya will tell members of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists at a debate in London tomorrow that women still have no control over the right time to have a baby.
The childbirth expert, from the University of Aberdeen, told the Standard: "Increasing numbers of women are coming to us in their thirties and forties for IVF whose outcomes are poor. It's at that point that clinics wished they had access to better quality eggs. Egg freezing has to be carried out when women are much younger - if you're in your late thirties it defeats the whole purpose."
The Standard revealed last month that London clinics are reporting a huge rise in the number of single women having their eggs frozen.
Reader views (4)
as u know,here in jeddah there is no possibility to freeze my embryos,so i was wondering where i can do this,it's crucial matter for me.am 39 still not married,i had an abortion twice.really don't know what to do ?can u HELP
- Maria, jeddah,saudia arabia
There are a multitude of reasons that women may not be able to have children when or before their eggs peak fertility: some women may not have found that person they would like to raise their child with, others may not be able to afford a child, and others are not emotionally ready. For all these reasons and many more I think that egg freezing is a great opportunity for women.
It is an opportunity for women to take control of their reproductive clock and health. Egg freezing is an investment in oneself that greatly increases ones chances of being able to have a child in the future because it is the age of the egg, not the age of the uterus that is most important when it comes to trying to get pregnant.
- Melanie, Boston, MA
If you want children just have them as soon as possible and forget freezing your eggs. It is ridiculous, some people still think there is a soul mate for everyone and the reality is, unfortunately there is not. The same can be said for women who want children, some women can and do have children and others can't. Why do women risk leaving it so late if they really want kids and then the rest of us have to pay for the treatment in order for them to realise their 'long overdue' dream.
- Becky, Sudbury
It's all well and good that women are being advised to freeze their eggs before they are too old to have a child, but seriously how many ladies in their 20s are really going to bother? Most young people either think about their career and then after work having a good time or for the more conscientious buying a house. I would imagine freezing their eggs would be at the bottom of their list.
- Francesca, Angel
