Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #430

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Women Graduates ‘Desperately' Freeze Eggs Over ‘Lack of Men'
Professional women are freez- ing their eggs due to a "dearth of educated men to marry", a US study has claimed.
Yale University researchers sug- gested an "over- supply" of gradu- ate women left them struggling to find a partner and "desperate" to preserve fertility.
They said the "man deficit" was worse in coun- tries where more women were going to universi- ty, as in the UK.
The researchers interviewed 150 women who had frozen eggs, of
whom 90% said they could not find a suitable partner.
Author Prof Marcia Inhorn said the research challenged per- ceptions that women put off having a baby so they could priori- tise their job.
"Extensive media coverage sug- gests that educa- tional and career ambitions are the main determi- nants of profes- sional women's fertility postpone- ment, especially as they 'lean in' to their careers," she said.
"Rather, they were desperately
preserving their fertility beyond the natural end of their reproductive lives, because they were single without partners to marry."
Speaking at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology con- ference in Geneva, Switzerland, Prof Inhorn thought there were "not enough gradu- ates for them".
In the majority of cases the women, who were treated at eight IVF clinics in the US and Israel and inter- viewed between June 2014 to
August 2016, said they could not find an edu- cated man who was willing to commit to family life.
"Women lament- ed the 'missing men' in their lives, viewing egg freezing as a way to buy time while on the continuing - online - search for a committed partner," Prof Inhorn said.
Prof Adam Balen, president of the British Fertility Society, said that he had noticed a "big shift" in UK society, with many university- educated women delaying starting a family.
"In my clinic I cer- tainly see more older women seeking fertility treatment than in the past," he said.
The research comes amid a sex imbalance at British universi- ties. In the aca- demic year 2015- 2016, 56% of UK students were women and 44%
men, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Prof Balen warned that freezing eggs can be a painful and costly process.
"Freezing eggs for a future preg- nancy is not a decision to be taken lightly," he said.
"The technology in egg freezing has improved a great deal but it is still no guarantee of a baby later in life.
"Women choos- ing to 'bank' eggs until they are ready to start a family have to go through painful procedures and what can be a dif- ficult regime of medications - this is not without potential risks to the woman undertaking the procedure."
In the UK, the number of women storing their eggs has increased sub- stantially despite success rates
remaining low.
In 2014, 816 women froze some eggs for in vitro fertilization (IVF) later, up 25% on 2013, according to the latest figures from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates the industry.
Eggs are more fragile than embryos, and less likely to sur- vive the freeze- thaw process. The pregnancy rate for transfer- ring frozen embryos was 21.9% in 2013, and 22.2% in 2014.
The law allows for eggs to be frozen for up to 10 years, and in some circum- stances up to 55 years.
Egg-freezing can cost several thou- sand pounds, with added costs for storing the eggs, while one cycle of IVF treat- ment may cost up to £5,000 or more.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine