07/09/2006

Woman encouraged to freeze eggs

Women in their early thirties who wish to delay motherhood should be able to freeze their eggs, a fertility expert has said.

Dr Gillian Lockwood, from the British Fertility Society, will tell a conference in Glasgow that many more women are looking to delay motherhood for a variety of reasons, including not having met the right partner, focusing on a career or not being financially stable.

However, a woman's eggs age at the same rate she does and fertility is known to begin to decrease rapidly after the age of 35. The chances of having a miscarriage or a child with Down's Syndrome also increases as a woman gets older.

Most women who have their eggs frozen do so because they are undergoing cancer treatment, which may affect their fertility.

However, those who want to freeze their eggs for social or lifestyle reasons face having to pay over £2,000.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Dr Lockwood said that she did not want to encourage women who could have children in their twenties or early thirties to delay doing so, but said that those who are forced to delay having children for should be aware that the option of freezing eggs is available.

(KMcA)

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