The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it would study the feasibility of subsidizing oocyte cryopreservation — the extraction and freezing of egg cells — after city councilors proposed the idea to help boost the city’s birthrate.
Several councilors at a Taipei City Council committee hearing proposed providing subsidies to women aged 25 to 40 to freeze their eggs to improve their chances of conceiving later in life.
Women are having children later on average, but egg freezing is prohibitively expensive for most, Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) said.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
Chen suggested requiring a doctor’s consultation and proof of the procedure to receive a one-time subsidy of NT$30,000, followed by NT$5,000 for each of the following three years to pay for storage.
The funds would only be the “tip of the iceberg,” as the procedure typically costs NT$30,000 to NT$100,000, Chen said.
GIVING BIRTH LATER
In 2021, 30 percent of all births were by women aged 35 or older, Taipei City Councilor Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said, citing Ministry of the Interior data.
In Taipei, the figure was higher than 40 percent, she said.
The average age a woman has her first child has risen by 1.68 years over the past decade to 33.34 in 2021, Taipei City Councilor Liu Tsai-wei (柳采葳) said.
As egg quality gradually declines with age, in vitro fertilization tends to be more successful with younger eggs, Taipei Fertility Center physician Jason Ho (何彥秉) said.
In addition, the egg recovery rate with modern fast-freezing technology exceeds 90 percent, making it a low-risk procedure, he added.
Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) said that marriage should not be a requirement to qualify for the subsidy, as it would exclude unmarried people and same-sex couples.
Taoyuan is already offering the subsidy, she said, asking why Taipei, as the nation’s largest city, is not doing the same.
Taipei City Councilor Lee Yen-chang (李彥昌) proposed studying the results of similar policies in other municipalities before Taipei issues subsidies.
The city should also encourage women to use the eggs later on, he said, adding that people might take the money and never use the service.
The city’s health department is to convene a meeting of experts to discuss the possibility of offering a subsidy, Taipei Department of Health Commissioner Chen Yen-yuan (陳彥元) told the councilors.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
WATCH FOR HITCHHIKERS: The CDC warned those returning home from Japan to be alert for any contagious diseases that might have come back with them People who have returned from Japan following the World Baseball Classic (WBC) games during the weekend are recommended to watch for symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis, flu and measles for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Flu viruses remain the most common respiratory pathogen in Taiwan in the past four weeks and the influenza B virus accounted for 55.7 percent of the tested cases, exceeding the percentage of influenza A (H3N2) infections and becoming the local dominant strain, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said at a news conference on Tuesday. There were 82,187 hospital visits for
RSS