“I Felt Misled”: Are Women Getting the Full Truth About Egg Freezing?

Experience Best of Beauty like never before.

View this email in your browser | Manage newsletter subscriptions November 18, 2023 "I Felt Misled": Are Women Getting the Full Truth About Egg Freezing? Egg freezing, or more officially "oocyte cryopreservation," is evolving into a mainstream backup plan for women who want to—or need to—delay motherhood. "It is what birth control did for women in the '70s," says Tomer Singer, MD, chief of the division of reproductive medicine at Northwell Health Fertility in New York. "It's an empowering tool to take ownership when you're not ready to have a child." That theme of empowerment was echoed by several of the 26 women Allure recently spoke to about their experiences with egg freezing. "By taking control of my reproductive options, I found a new sense of agency and peace of mind that I hadn't anticipated," says Janet, who froze her eggs at 30, during her final year of surgical residency. Katie, 38, conceived naturally last year but is still grateful that she froze her eggs three years ago before she was married—and is keeping them on ice. "I really can't underestimate how the egg freezing process would've made a difference in my life at 25 if I had been able to do it," she says. "I would've made such different decisions in my dating life in my 20s. I would not have been so panicked in my early 30s about finding the right person." Beyond the end goals—preventing pregnancy versus preserving fertility—there are big distinctions between oral contraception and egg freezing as family planning tools, though. Like the massive price differential: The Pill is free under most health insurance plans while one egg freezing cycle can run upwards of $10,000. And then there's the data gap: The Pill is well proven to be 99% effective at preventing pregnancy if used correctly; there is still limited information on how likely a woman is to become pregnant after thawing frozen eggs. Find out more about egg freezing—and the roadblocks and results of those who've utilized it—by reading our full report on Allure now. READ MORE This e-mail was sent to you by allure.com. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, allure@newsletters.allure.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or Manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.