"I froze my eggs," announced actress Kriti Sanon when asked about the 'biological clock of women', breaking the stigma and raising awareness about her decision.
"There was a time when I was thinking, I thought I never want to be tied down to the fact that I need to get married now or I need to have kids now and I am doing it because I have a timeline. Whether it’s marriage or it’s kids, you need to do it when you feel it inside, when you feel ready for it. It shouldn’t come out of some clock or some pressure," the 35-year-old actress mentioned in a chat with Humans of Bombay.
Why are women preferring to freeze their eggs?
While many women are focusing on their careers, personal goals, or waiting for the right time to start a family, egg freezing has emerged as an option that allows them to preserve their fertility for the future.
Although the option has become increasingly common in recent years, many people are still unsure about how it works, who is suitable to opt for it, and whether it guarantees a future pregnancy.
What is egg freezing?
Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, is a fertility preservation procedure where a woman's eggs are collected, frozen at sub-zero temperatures in liquid nitrogen, and stored for future use.
If the woman later decides to have a child, the eggs can be thawed, fertilised with sperm in a laboratory through IVF, and the resulting embryo can be transferred into the uterus.
How does the procedure take place?
Initially, a medical expert will conduct a screening to assess the individual's ovarian reserve. After which, the procedure begins with hormonal injections that stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple mature eggs.
Doctors then retrieve these eggs using a minimally invasive procedure performed under sedation and freeze them.
However, specialists emphasise that egg freezing is not an insurance policy for future pregnancy. While it significantly increases the possibility of using younger, healthier eggs later in life, success depends on several factors, including the woman's age at the time of freezing, the number and quality of eggs collected, sperm quality, embryo development, and overall health during pregnancy.
For more information, consult a health expert.
