DON’T DELAY, SAY DOCTORS
Doctors said younger women should not wait until the last minute, now that the law has changed.
Dr Suresh Nair, Monash IVF Singapore’s founding doctor, said the clinic spends time to counsel each patient on the pros and cons of egg freezing, and encourage those who can to start a family earlier.
“Our main emphasis is to look at her circumstances and encourage her … not to delay childbearing (unless) it’s for a medical reason. Another reasonable request is if a patient has not found someone suitable to start a family with,” he said.
This is because egg freezing is only the first step and success depends on the age they use them as well.
“The number of the eggs will decline with increasing age of the woman so as we grow older the number of eggs that our body will produce, even in response to medications that we give, will certainly reduce,” said Dr Anupriya Agarwal, from Mount Elizabeth Fertility Centre.
Older patients are less likely to get pregnant, while older mothers also face more health issues, said Dr Nair.
“If a woman has 20 eggs at age of 34, the chance of having a baby in the first round of 20 eggs is 90 per cent – pretty good. But the moment she goes into the 37 age bracket, it falls to a whopping 50 per cent,” he said.
“Age is the biggest handicap, we can’t help it, it is biology. Egg freezing is not a guarantee.”