Sat, Oct 18, 2014 page4

• Women opting to delay having kids

  ON HOLD: As women marry later, or opt to remain unmarried, an increasing number are choosing to freeze their egg cells, particularly in the 34-to-41 age range

  • By Tsai Chang-sheng and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  The practice of human oocyte cryopreservation — ovum freezing — has become more popular in recent years and many of the nation’s fertility centers are reporting almost twice the number of procedures undergone this year, mostly by unmarried working women in their 30s or 40s, a doctor said.

  According to e-Stork Reproduction Center deputy director Wang Huai-lin (王懷麟), applications were not by women from any particular type of occupation or social stratum, showing that marrying at an older age and having children later in life is a trend across all sections of society in the nation.

  Many of the women who opt for the procedure are confident of the quality of their genes and want to have a child older than is considered conventional, Wang said, adding that others want to keep their “ideal jobs.”

  

  E-Stork Reproduction Center deputy director Wang Huai-lin shows ovum-freezing equipment at the center in Hsinchu on Feb. 19.

  Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times

  Some of the applicants have dismissed the idea of marriage or a steady relationship and the majority of those who have their egg cells frozen are single, Wang said.

  A quarter of the applicants are in a relationship and have chosen to undergo the procedure as a precautionary measure because their partner lives overseas; they are under pressure at work; they want to remain single longer; they cannot decide if their partner is the one they want to settle down with or there is indecision over wedding dates, Wang said.

  More than a quarter of women who undergo the procedure have worked overseas for extended periods of time, are living abroad or are foreigners, Wang said.

  Most people coming to the clinic for such services are from 34 to 41 years old, with the majority from 35 to 38 years old, Wang said.

  Once a woman reaches the age of 35, the number of her colleagues and friends who have children increases exponentially, Wang said, adding that unmarried women at this age start feeling anxious about marriage and having children.

  Many freeze egg cells before their 37th or 38th birthday as a present to themselves, Wang said.

  Wang referenced a case of one 35-year-old who had eggs frozen at age 28 as a precaution and after marrying at 35 came under pressure to have children.

  She unfroze the egg cells and used them to become pregnant, giving birth to a healthy child in August, Wang said.

  About 4 percent of individuals who have the procedure are married women feuding with their husbands and on the brink of divorce, or are women who are against their husband’s plans to start a family, Wang said.

  Wang said that while marrying and starting a family at an older age looks likely to become even more common in the near future, women need to take the effects of aging on reproduction into consideration.

  Women in the nation and overseas should find a way to take control of their lives and conquer the idea that they must give birth before the age of 34, Wang said, adding that oocyte cryopreservation might be the best method.
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