Abbie Chatfield reveals egg freezing decision amid fertility concerns

Abbie Chatfield has opened up about her personal journey as she makes a huge decision on her future.

Abbie Chatfield. Picture: James Gourley

Radio personality and television host Abbie Chatfield has revealed her intention to freeze her eggs amid fears of reduced fertility with her 30th birthday fast approaching.

 The announcement was made during an episode of her podcast, ‘It’s a Lot’, and was later posted on her Instagram stories.

Now aged 28, Chatfield confided to her listeners that the decision was born out of discussions with her girlfriends during a summer vacation.

 “So I was away on a trip with my girlfriends over summer, we are all almost 30, none of us are engaged – none of us are even close to having kids,” she said on her podcast.

Abbie Chatfield has announced she is freezing her eggs. Picture: Instagram @abbiechatfield

With their milestone birthdays fast approaching, the friend group, who were previously adamant they didn’t want children, found themselves changing their attitudes towards motherhood.

“Then I said ‘maybe I should just start freezing my eggs’ because I’m 28,” Chatfield said on her podcast, admitting it seemed like a logical safety plan.

Eager to learn more, Chatfield spoke with author and fellow podcaster Linda Marigliano, who has previously frozen her eggs and helped to demystify the process.

But the conversation also brought to the surface some deeper fears, with Chatfield openly discussing her previous abortion, which she had five years ago, and the concern that it may have been her only chance of having a child.

“One of the things that I was really, and still am, really fearful of, is that ‘was that my only chance to have a kid and have I done something in the meantime to somehow f**k everything up’,” she said

Abbie Chatfield hosts FBoy. Picture: Supplied

Following last year’s overturning of the Roe v Wade laws in the US, Chatfield opened up about her experience with abortion, which she had had four years prior.
After being reassured by Marigliano that having an abortion doesn’t impact chances of falling pregnant, Chatfield divulged another worry – a past chlamydia infection possibly impacting her fertility.

The former reality TV star, originally from Brisbane, has also used her platform to criticise societal pressures around the biological clock, arguing that it forces women into settling down before they are ready, and often in unsafe circumstances.

“I’m from Brisbane. So Brisbane is big country town vibes, where everyone from Brisbane is like married by 26, having babies at 28 and that is their life plan,” she said.

“And I believe from my perspective some people I know have gotten married purely because their ‘clock is ticking’, which is such a f**king frustrating term – and I think it causes a lot of women to settle down when they wouldn’t previously.

“ … I think it can create dangerous situations – because they’re staying with someone who is financially, emotionally or verbally abusive …”

Chatfield argued that every person’s biological clock was different, and not something to be universally defined.

“Everyone’s clock is f**king different, OK? Mum had me at 35 in the nineties with no IVF, nothing.”

Chatfield also suggested that undergoing a fertility check might better equip her mentally for any future struggles.

“If it does come back that I’m not as fertile as I would have imagined … I can mentally handle that, and almost go to therapy to speak about that before I get to that point,” she said.

The candid discussion ended with Marigliano discussing the costs of the egg freezing process, as well as ongoing rental fees, which Chatfield added were significantly less than a studio apartment in Sydney.

“When I did it in 2020 and again in 2021, the entire medical cost through Medicare was sitting at about $10,000,” Marigliano said.

“It’s a lot more affordable than in lot of other countries.

“And you actually pay rent – I think it’s a couple of hundred bucks every six months.”

Originally published as Abbie Chatfield reveals egg freezing decision amid fertility concerns