Chantelle Otten reveals she’s freezing her eggs for second time
Chantelle Otten has given an update on her family plans with boyfriend, tennis star and former Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott.
Chantelle Otten has given an update on her family plans with boyfriend, tennis star and former Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott.
In a video shared to her Instagram Story on Wednesday night, Otten – a psycho-sexologist and the author of The Sex Ed You Never Had – revealed she’s undergoing hormone fertility therapy to freeze her eggs a second time.
“I’m actually going through my second round of egg freezing at the moment,” the 32-year-old told her 191,000 followers.
“I think a lot of people watched Dyl and I on [Channel 9 IVF documentary] Big Miracles a few months ago. And yeah, I’m just doing another round because I want to have them there for when we are ready [to have a baby] but also I can donate afterwards as well.
“I know plenty of people who might not have as good of a journey as I am having with egg freezing … so if anyone has questions about it please let me know.”
The Melbourne-based couple – who met at Alcott’s book launch in 2018 – told 9Entertainment earlier this year they’d discussed having a family since the start of the relationship.
“We spoke about it and we thought about having kids early on, but then as time progressed … while we have never challenged the want to have kids with each other, our lives have become very busy and our respective careers have both taken very amazing and interesting pathways,” Otten explained.
“So we’re just not in the space to be having children right now. It is, however, something we talk about often and are excited about.”
By sharing her own experience with egg freezing, she said she hoped to “show menstruators who are around my age that you can have a safety blanket and take control of your fertility by freezing your eggs”.
“I see a lot of patients come in and out of my clinic who are rushing into relationships or jumping out of nice relationships because they’re worried about their biological clock,” Otten added.
“They don’t realise that they can get their fertility tested … and get a bit more awareness around their individual circumstances.
“For me, even prior to freezing my eggs, the process of getting my fertility tested through this process has been really important. I knew I wanted to do it anyway but to be able to educate in the process on a large scale is wonderful. It’s been beautiful for Dylan and I to be able to experience this together.”
The rhetoric around women’s so-called “biological clock” is something Abbie Chatfield touched on last week, when she revealed during an episode of her podcast she’s “seriously considering” freezing her eggs amid concerns over her fertility as she approaches turning 30.
The radio host and TV presenter suggested that such societal pressures forced many to settle down before they were ready, or stay in a potentially abusive situation.
“I’m from Brisbane. So, Brisbane is big country town vibes, where everyone … is, like, married by 26, having babies at 28, and that is their life plan,” Chatfield 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 [might be] staying with someone who is financially, emotionally or verbally abusive.”
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