IVFAustralia: Single women are choosing to freeze eggs to increase options
An IVF service is opening a second clinic on the northern beaches, as the trend for young women wanting to freeze eggs to “increase their options” rises.
Manly
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An increasing number of women are freezing their eggs to improve their chances of getting pregnant when it better suits them in their 40s.
Fertility specialist Dr Michele Kwik, who is one of the doctors fronting a new IVFAustralia clinic at Northern Beaches Hospital, said it had become “mainstream” for women in their 30s to freeze eggs so they have more choice about when they want to start a family.
IVFAustralia has seen an 11 per cent increase in egg freezing procedures in 2020 compared to 2019.
“Women in their early 30s are thinking about their options,” Dr Kwik said.
She said some are waiting until they have furthered their careers, others have not yet found the right partner, or it just suits them better to have a family later.
One woman from Manly who spent more than $20,000 this year freezing eggs “an insurance policy” said she decided to go through the painful process after an unplanned pregnancy with her long term partner resulted in a miscarriage.
The 39-year-old, who did not want to be named, said the couple were still deciding when they wanted to start their family and the miscarriage had been a “wake up call”.
“We want a family but having a miscarriage made us realise it might not be straightforward for us,” she said.
“I never thought I would be that one in four to have a miscarriage.
“So, freezing eggs is like an insurance policy going forward.
“We might not necessarily need it for the first pregnancy if at all, but we might.
“I wish I had done it earlier, but I never thought about it until now.”
Dr Kwik said from the age of 35 getting pregnant becomes more tricky.
She said she was seeing “more and more women coming in to freeze eggs, and more and more women coming in on their own”.
“They are coming to us in their 30s and choosing to start a family at 42 or 43,” she said.
“Some are accessing our sperm donors or bringing a friend as their sperm donor.”
She added that there were also quite a few women on the northern beaches donating eggs to other women too.
One couple who used a sperm donor is Jo Greco, 37, and her wife Ceri, 35, of Freshwater.
The pair decided to start a family using an IVFAustralia sperm donor and welcomed their first child Morgan, three months ago.
Jo Greco, an exercise physiologist, said it took about six months on a waiting list to access a sperm donor at IVFAustralia. They chose the donor because he had similar interests, hobbies and profession to them both.
Her partner Ceri is planning to use the same donor to get pregnant next year.
“Nowadays the IVF process is quite smooth,” Ms Greco said.
“I went through a couple of rounds before I got pregnant with Morgan.”
She said in total they paid around $6000 for the services, as she was eligible to claim some of the costs back from Medicare.
Kate Donald, 42, of North Balgowlah, and her partner Ben are another success story.
They have been patients at IVFAustralia’s Dee Why clinic, under the care of Dr Kwik, since 2011.
They have had multiple IVF treatments and have now completed their family Jack, 9, Lucas, 5 and two-year-old Tilly.
“IVF is an involved process, there’s lots of blood tests and scans, it’s a full-on commitment of time,” she said.
“You’re trying to juggle work at the same time, so when your clinic is local it’s a bit easier to go and get your scans and check everything is OK.”
Dr Kwik said the company already has a clinic at Dee Why, but demand on the beaches is such that it has just opened a second.
“There has been a surge in people seeking fertility treatment,” Dr Kwik said.
“Statistics are a bit delayed and we know we have seen an increase during the pandemic.
“Perhaps people are not travelling and so now is a good time to start a family?”
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