April 4, 2022
SINGAPORE – The White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development will be debated in Parliament this week. Allowing women to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons is among the policy changes outlined in the 10-year road map.
The Straits Times speaks to women who have chosen to do so.
Women can freeze eggs in S’pore soon, but doctors say there are risks, motherhood not guaranteed
Before travel curbs were placed due to Covid-19, one or two Singaporeans a month would consult Dr Helena Lim at her clinic in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, seeking to freeze their eggs.
The fertility specialist at the KL Fertility & Gynaecology Centre said: “Most of them are single and some are in stable relationships but they are not ready to tie the knot and start a family yet. These women are well aware that their fertility declines with age and they feel strongly about having their fertility preserved.”
Most of these women are aged between 35 and 40 and they pay between $4,500 and $5,500 for one cycle of egg freezing at her clinic.
Egg freezing was best investment as it gave her more time to find Mr Right: Actress Ase Wang
Actress Ase Wang, 40, cried for joy and poured herself a drink to celebrate when she heard the news on Monday night (March 28) that women would be allowed to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons.
The procedure, known as elective egg freezing, helps women preserve their fertility and will be allowed here from next year.
“All these years of advocating have not fallen on deaf ears,” the Singaporean said. “It’s a huge weight off the shoulders of every Singaporean woman who wants to do this.”
Woman, 38, expecting twins with eggs she froze in Hong Kong four years ago
Alice, 38, is pregnant with twins from eggs she froze four years ago in Hong Kong.
At the time, Alice (not her real name) was divorced without children and in the early stages of another relationship.
That boyfriend is now her husband, but she felt it was too soon then to discuss marriage and children.
S’porean on the verge of premature ovarian failure did egg freezing procedure in Seoul
When Miss Janet Neo, 38, discovered she was on the verge of premature ovarian failure three years ago, her doctor advised her to consider freezing her eggs if she wanted to be a mother in the future.
In premature ovarian failure, a woman’s ovaries stop working as they should before the age of 40 and it often leads to infertility.
Miss Neo, who is single, said: “The news was a shock as I have always been healthy.”