Asian women warming to freezing eggs, says doctor

by NADEEM BADSHAH

LACK OF SUITABLE PARTNERS PUTTING WOMEN OFF FROM STARTING A FAMILY

MORE British-Asian women are choosing to freeze their eggs, a decision supported by their parents, accord­ing to a leading professor.

Professor Geeta Nargund, founder of the CREATE Fertility clinic in London, said an increasing number are having the procedure because they have not found a suitable boyfriend or husband.

She said in the past three years, more parents are backing their daugh­ter’s decision to freeze their eggs and are helping them pay towards the cost of the treatment.

In an interview with Eastern Eye, Professor Nargund said attitudes to­wards egg freezing are changing in the Asian community and families are be­coming more supportive.

She said: “The number who are freezing their eggs is going up.

“In families, parents are supporting them financially and emotionally in the past two-three years.

“The change of attitude is a positive thing. They realise their daughter has not found a partner and they want to be grandparents.

“The other options are having ba­bies through a sperm donor or giving up and doing nothing. It gives them [women] space to find a partner.”

Research has shown that more fe­males are freezing their eggs because of a “lack of stable partners” rather than due to them focusing on their careers or delaying childbirth. The study by Yale University found that 85 per cent of those visiting fertility clin­ics were single while 15 per cent were in unhappy relationships.

Egg freezing is only available on the NHS to cancer patients and costs be­tween £3,000-£5,000 at fertility clinics to store the eggs for up to 10 years.

The treatment lasts around two weeks which includes injections to ripen the eggs and a 30-minute proce­dure to collect them while the patient is sedated.

Professor Nargund, lead consultant for reproductive medicine services at St George’s Hospital in south London, added the most common reason for having the procedure among Asian women is not meeting Mr Right.

“They are getting older and don’t want to lose out on being a mother.

“Women who are more educated, have a career which is demanding and are busy are finding it difficult to find a partner. Or their parents are ill and they would like to look after them.

“The quantity and quality of eggs goes down sharply. The clock is ticking and they don’t want to lose out.”

Experts say there is no guarantee that the procedure leads to women be­ing able to conceive as it depends on her age and quality of her eggs.

Professor Nargund said: “If you freeze around 12 eggs before the age of 35, you have around a 50 per cent chance. The younger the woman the higher the success rate. It’s an option but it’s never a guarantee.”

Bobby Bains, who turned to a sur­rogate in India, runs a website called Indiansurrogacy.com to help couples wanting to have children.

He has hailed the change in atti­tudes among Asian families towards treatments like egg freezing.

Bains told Eastern Eye: “No longer can we say Asians are set in their back­ward ways, especially if their children have become mature, wealthier and independent. Asians like to forward think and this philosophy of maintain­ing one’s genealogy and bring about a heir sits well with technical advances made in egg freezing.

“As the [Zager and Evans] song goes, In the year 6565/ You won’t need no husband, won’t need a wife/ You’ll pick your son/ pick your daughter too from the bottom of a long glass tube.

“We may not like it but the future and mankind are always evolving.

“It’s a natural progression as old ideas and the older generation gives way to the new.”