Source BioNews
Women are more likely to freeze their eggs due to a lack of a stable partner, rather than for career planning, according to a new study.
The study, led by Professor Marcia Inhorn, an anthropologist at Yale University in Newhaven, Connecticut, is the largest qualitative study into the reasonings behind elective or ‘social’ egg freezing to date. Some 150 patients undergoing egg freezing without medical reason were interviewed from four fertility clinics in the USA and three clinics in Israel.
‘The medical literature and media coverage of oocyte cryopreservation usually suggest that elective egg freezing is being used to defer or delay childbearing among women pursuing education and careers,’ explained Professor Inhorn. ‘Our study, however, suggests that the lack of a stable partner is the primary motivation.’