It’s not surprising to me that it blows your mind, since you’ve reduced a complicated decision with multiple dimensions of considerations to a single criterion.
My comment was very (perhaps overly) vehement. That said, the two main problems arising from increased maternal age that are most typically cited are:
Infertility and
Increased rate of birth disorders,
both of which become very significant after age 35.
By saving youthful genetic material, egg freezing solves these problems. However, in almost all online and in-person discussions I’ve participated in on the subject of maternal age, egg freezing isn’t even brought up as an option and (this is more common in-person) people are either unaware that it exists or unaware that it is an established and reliable medical procedure rather than a fringe experimental one.
Of course, the processes of retrieving the eggs and implanting them can be unpleasant and stressful, but I really do think that this is on a different order of significance than “if you don’t get pregnant before a certain age your body may become unable to conceive a healthy baby.” There are also a host of other lifestyle concerns, such as the desire to have children early when one is more youthful and energetic. However, those tend to apply to men as well as women, and again are more a matter of preference rather than a universal and insurmountable thing on the level of infertility after a certain age. Egg freezing isn’t a solution for everyone, sure, but when I see women planning their whole lives around having children before 30 I do get frustrated when they haven’t even considered egg freezing.
Egg freezing isn’t a solution for everyone, sure, but when I see women planning their whole lives around having children before 30 I do get frustrated when they haven’t even considered egg freezing.
It’s pretty expensive: $20k+. I’m not sure if that’s expensive enough that most women should dismiss it out of hand, but it’s enough that most who would want it can’t afford it.
It’s not surprising to me that it blows your mind, since you’ve reduced a complicated decision with multiple dimensions of considerations to a single criterion.
My comment was very (perhaps overly) vehement. That said, the two main problems arising from increased maternal age that are most typically cited are:
Infertility and
Increased rate of birth disorders,
both of which become very significant after age 35.
By saving youthful genetic material, egg freezing solves these problems. However, in almost all online and in-person discussions I’ve participated in on the subject of maternal age, egg freezing isn’t even brought up as an option and (this is more common in-person) people are either unaware that it exists or unaware that it is an established and reliable medical procedure rather than a fringe experimental one.
Of course, the processes of retrieving the eggs and implanting them can be unpleasant and stressful, but I really do think that this is on a different order of significance than “if you don’t get pregnant before a certain age your body may become unable to conceive a healthy baby.” There are also a host of other lifestyle concerns, such as the desire to have children early when one is more youthful and energetic. However, those tend to apply to men as well as women, and again are more a matter of preference rather than a universal and insurmountable thing on the level of infertility after a certain age. Egg freezing isn’t a solution for everyone, sure, but when I see women planning their whole lives around having children before 30 I do get frustrated when they haven’t even considered egg freezing.
It’s kind of like mini-cryonics!
And you don’t have to take its efficacy on faith!
It’s pretty expensive: $20k+. I’m not sure if that’s expensive enough that most women should dismiss it out of hand, but it’s enough that most who would want it can’t afford it.