Reasons Why Women Freeze Their Eggs

If you randomly asked people on the street” Why do you think a woman freezes her eggs?” I would expect most to say it is to prevent her from having age-related issues with them in the future. While age may be a reason why many women undergo fertility preservation, studies have started showing that a larger number do so because they are single.

Women all around the world have had their eggs frozen. While a lot of these women are educated, their decision may have little to do with work or education, a new study has found. Of the 150 Israeli and American women interviewed, only two of them said they underwent the egg freezing process because they are planning their career. Most of them have a different reason: they have yet to find a partner to start a family with. 

This research echoes many other studies conducted in Britain and the United States that also found the lack of a partner to be what drives most women to egg freezing. In this unpublished study, the subjects were drawn from 7 different fertility clinics. In the US, the women’s age ranged from 29 to 42, with three out of four falling between 35 and 39. They lived in the Bay Area or along the East Coast. 

Of those who participated, 85 % were single and the majority of them were not gay. The uncertainty of when they would find a partner was what brought about 50 % of these single women to the fertility clinic.  A divorce or breakup drove the next largest group there. Next was a smaller group who were sent abroad and felt freezing their eggs first is a wise thing to do; followed by a few women who were getting ready to have a child on their own. The least common reason given by these women was career planning. For subjects who have a partner (15 %), the reasons they chose to freeze their eggs were not different from those of the single women: Although they had a partner to call their own, they had no interest in building a family or was just not ready yet. 

If you have questions about freezing your eggs, you can always visit Reproductive Sciences Medical Center at www.fertile.com or call at (858) 512-6940 to schedule a free consultation.