INVESTIGATION

gg-freezing, or oocyte cryopreserva- tion, is the process of extracting, freezing and storing a woman’s eggs so she can – in theory – use LATER, Ethem to have children in the future. It involves stimulating the ovaries with hormone injections to produce a surplus of eggs, which are then collected during surgery. When a woman wants to try for pregnancy, one of her eggs will be thawed, fertilised and – if it survives those proce- dures – implanted in the womb. BABY! While embryos and sperm have been frozen n a crisp Thursday for decades, egg cryopreservation is relatively new night in Sydney, wom- and has much lower success rates than the Inside the new egg-freezing frontier en are arriving on the implantation of frozen embryos. Historically, few third floor of a slick eggs survived the freezing process, but in 1999 city skyscraper. They’re a flash-freezing technology called vitrification greeted with sparkling was introduced that radically improved out- wine and ushered into a comes. Nine years later, Australia’s first “frozen bright white Hamptons- egg” baby was born in Sydney. style kitchen, with pendant Since then, the procedure has shifted from lights hanging overhead and a purely medical (it was mostly used by cancer pa- huge island bench topped with tients and endometriosis sufferers who might be finger sandwiches and fruit skewers. at risk of later infertility), to an elective or “social” But aside from the smattering of choice undertaken by healthy women – often sharp suits and Louboutins, this is not your single or simply not yet ready for motherhood – as Australia’s first standard after-work mixer. Women stare stead- a fertility “insurance policy”. fastly at their phones, deliberately avoiding each Now, social egg-freezing is heating up in dedicated egg-freezing other’s gaze. The tension is thick, the silence loud. Hollywood and hitting the headlines. A recent The clock on the wall ticks rhythmically in the episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians clinic opened late background. Perhaps it’s a metaphor: for many of focused on 39-year-old mother-of-three Kourt- last year, promoting the women here, the beat of their biological clock ney considering the treatment to keep her dreams has become an eerie internal soundtrack. of more babies alive. Rita Ora, Olivia Munn and a the procedure as Tonight’s guests are at Genea Horizon, Aus- crop of former US Bachelor contestants have all an insurance policy tralia’s first dedicated egg-freezing clinic, which frozen their eggs and preached the benefits, mov- opened in November last year. Ella*, nearly 33, is ing the matter squarely into the mainstream. against infertility. But attending the information session because she’s “We’ve seen a 50-to-100-per-cent rise in does it represent hope, always assumed she’ll have children one day but patients in the past year,” says Dr Devora Lieber- hasn’t found the right partner. Her dad has said man, fertility specialist at Genea Horizon.

hype or heartbreak? . he’ll pay for her to freeze her eggs, and her sister, “Originally, egg-freezing was directed at older Kathryn Madden who has three kids of her own, has encouraged women – 38- or 39-year-olds, even those in their her to consider the procedure. But Ella’s unsure early 40s – and unfortunately by that age we’re reports about the side effects, and the whole thing stirs up probably freezing a woman’s infertility as an emotional cocktail of fear and failure. opposed to her fertility. Genea has tried to make She makes her way to the presentation area. egg-freezing as affordable as we can so that People are clustered up the back like it’s a first- younger women can … access the treatment too.” year university lecture, and everyone’s sitting one As we’re regularly reminded, a woman’s seat apart. As the lights dim, soothing harp music fertility starts to decline at the ripe old age of 22, begins to play and a series of statements and dropping significantly at 35, 38 and 40. While questions flash across the white projector screen: we’re born with up to two million eggs, we lose “Do you want to have children?” “Live in the pres- 90 per cent of them by the time we’re 30. At 35, ent, but don’t forget to plan for the future.” our chance of getting pregnant naturally in any Some call the egg freezing drive a feminist given month sits at 15 to 20 per cent†. game-changer: just like the pill liberated baby Here’s the conundrum: we’re working harder, boomers, egg-freezing could emancipate millen- travelling more and settling down later than ever nials. But it’s ringing alarm bells for critics, who before. Women’s lifestyles have changed dramati- claim the medical procedure is being sold as a cally, but our biology has not. Stowing away some misguided lifestyle choice to young women, eggs sounds like a reasonable solution, postpon- PARENTS.COM/GETTING-PREGNANT/TRYING-TO-CONCEIVE/UP-YOUR-CHANCES-OF-GETTING-PREGNANT-AT-EVERY-AGE/. PARENTS.COM/GETTING-PREGNANT/TRYING-TO-CONCEIVE/UP-YOUR-CHANCES-OF-GETTING-PREGNANT-AT-EVERY-AGE/. PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRAVIS RATHBONE/TRUNK ARCHIVE/SNAPPERMEDIA.COM. *NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED ARCHIVE/SNAPPERMEDIA.COM. RATHBONE/TRUNK TRAVIS BY PHOTOGRAPHY † offering hope with no guarantees of success. ing procreation and future-proofing one’s

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product where the general rules of marketing five years a number of fertility clinics have been apply, or are we dealing with a medical procedure publicly listed (including Monash IVF and Virtus where there needs to be some professional over- Health in Australia), bringing shareholder con- sight from medical bodies?” asks Dr Christopher siderations into play. As such, “these clinics are Mayes, researcher at Deakin University’s Alfred always looking for new markets”, says Dr Mayes, Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisa- citing younger working women as the next target. tion. “Are we talking about patients or are we And other corporations are only too happy to talking about customers?” help. In 2014, the US arms of Facebook and Apple Bioethicist and lawyer Dr Josephine John- announced they were offering to pay for female ston, a New Zealander based at The Hastings employees to freeze their eggs. Call it a company Below: US fertility Center in New York, says, “It’s worrying that perk, along with a gym membership. Both com- specialist Dr Aimee egg-freezing is being promoted at parties where panies declined to speak to marie claire, but Eyvazzadeh speaks at an egg-freezing party. alcohol is served. It’s so incredibly different from according to Reuters, Apple subsidises the proce- Her new Freeze and how you would usually counsel a patient about a dure up to $20,000 USD per individual. Last Share program lets medical procedure. It supports the claim that the November it was reported that a number of major young women freeze procedure is being sold as a lifestyle choice.” Australian companies are planning to follow suit. their eggs for free, in return for donating Cavalier marketing, she continues, is likely to Corporate egg-freezing is a contentious half to an infertile strong connection and intimacy there,” she gloss over the often-harrowing and heartbreaking issue. On the one hand, it’s a generous benefit woman or couple. remembers. “Instead of freaking out that we realities of egg-freezing. “You have to wonder, are weren’t compatible I was able to be in the moment the women at these parties aware that the proce- with him. I thought, ‘I’ve got the eggs in the freez- dure is a real medical experience with medical er; if this doesn’t work out I’m still OK.’ I’m so risks [such as infected or hyper-stimulated fertility in one fell swoop. Yet statistics to date thankful I got that headspace.” ovaries], and that it will lead to more medical don’t match the hype. In the past 30 years, an Most fertility specialists recommend under- experiences, such as IVF?” The lack of statistics estimated 2000 “ice babies” have been born going the treatment before turning 35, although on success rates only adds to the murkiness. around the world using frozen eggs (most to can- women in their late 30s and early 40s have been, Brigitte Adams was 39 when she decided cer patients). Lieberman explains, until now, the primary market. “I see to freeze her eggs in 2011. She was a “Whether we’re in Spain, Sydney, women in their 40s who are well single woman making her mark on California’s Melbourne or New York, fewer than FACT aware their frozen eggs are highly tech-marketing scene, and found the idea of put- 10 per cent of women who’ve frozen unlikely to become babies in the fu- ting her eggs on ice liberating and exciting. Ad- their eggs will ever come back and GENEA FERTILITY ture, but they are needing to ams started a blog, eggsurance.com, which grew use them.” Which could beg the ques- CLINIC HAS SEEN resolve their issues around their into a thriving online community for the tion: what’s the point? A 50 TO childlessness,” says Dr Lieberman. egg-freezing sisterhood. Her image was splashed Dr Nikki Goldstein, a sexologist Paradoxically, women in their on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek under and author, first learnt about 100% 20s generally don’t have the desire, the headline, “Freeze your eggs, free your career”. egg-freezing from an American RISE IN sense of desperation, or dollars to put By early 2017, Mr Right still hadn’t materi- Clockwise from dating coach who advised her to look EGG-FREEZING their eggs on ice. Costs for the treat- alised, so Adams, then 44, selected a sperm above: sexologist into the procedure. “I’m very PATIENTS ment vary, but one cycle – including donor and eagerly prepared for single mother- Dr Nikki Goldstein free-spirited and like to travel. I nev- IN THE PAST YEAR medication and egg storage – will set hood. She thawed her 11 stored eggs, but only one froze her eggs at er thought I had to rush out and get you back close to $10,000 (more developed into a healthy embryo. Adams miscar- 29; an egg-freezing party in Beverly Hills; married, but I always knew I wanted cycles may be required to retrieve ried within a few days. Just like that, her long-held during the medical to be a mum,” says the bubbly blonde. “I froze my more eggs). Medicare rebates are only available hopes – which had gradually morphed into procedure a surplus eggs just before my 30th birthday. The hardest for women using the service for medical reasons. staunch assumptions – were crushed. Adams of eggs are collected part was having people look at me like I’m crazy would never hold her own genetic child. from the ovaries, guided by ultrasound; and say, ‘But you’re so young!’ Well, yes, I am cross the Pacific Ocean, the business After crying “like a wild animal” and scratch- Dr Goldstein’s young, but have a look at 30 biological years in of egg-freezing is booming. From Sil- ing her face “so hard it bled”, she took to her blog hormone injections; terms of where your reproductive health is … I did icon Valley to Seattle, women are to reflect. “Freezing your eggs is easy,” she wrote. THE NEW FERTILITY ECONOMY? Brigitte Adams was it for my future self as a partial back-up plan.” heading to “egg socials” – next-gen “You’re in this sort of Disneyland world of fertility an early egg-freezer, Dr Aimee Eyvazzadeh, a fertility specialist in the US, recently launched For two weeks, Dr Goldstein injected her TupperwareA parties that promote cryo over where everything’s possible. There’s no next step featured on the Freeze and Share, a program in which fertile young women freeze and cover of Bloomberg belly with follicle-stimulating hormones. “You cocktails. Many come with loaded slogans: “Lean to it. You’re done, you compartmentalise it, you donate half their eggs to a recipient party, who in return covers the Businessweek in 2014, kind of feel like an egg farm,” she says. “I was in, but freeze first”; “Freeze, retrieve, relax”; and move on with your life. Things get hard when costs. “It solves the issue of young women not being able to afford before becoming crampy and got really bloated at night. I went in “Eggs do go bad. Have yours?” you’re actually moving on to step two and com- one of the industry’s egg-freezing, and those who need eggs will be helping a young devastated victims. with a positive mindset – I knew this wasn’t my Meanwhile, online forums discuss egg- pleting the process. I am by no means anti woman,” she says. “Plus the relationship [between parties] is open.” last chance at motherhood – but it was still a head freezing retreats, such as an upcoming getaway in egg-freezing, but today’s [commodification of the Bioethicist and lawyer Dr Josephine Johnston believes a program spin. At times I was an emotional wreck.” California’s Monterey (Big Little Lies territory), process] concerns me deeply, as clinics are failing like this could be beneficial for all involved, but it’s not without risks. “It’s The procedure, says Dr Goldstein, didn’t where hormone-pumping will be sandwiched to transparently present egg-freezing risks, data one of those situations where there’s a potential for power imbalances silence her biological clock, but it did take some of between spa treatments and yoga. and the success rates (or lack thereof).” and information imbalances, so you have to be really careful how it’s the pressure off dating. “When I met my current The glamour of it all has raised some ethical In fact, the main data many of these clinics set up,” she says. As with organ donation, egg donation could breed

partner, he wasn’t right on paper, but there was a concerns. “Are we dealing with a commercial OF DR AIMEE EYVAZZADEH. COURTESY GETTY IMAGES; BY PHOTOGRAPHY seem to be preoccupied with is profit. In the past regret, especially if a woman hasn’t had children of her own.

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for an individual, especially one faced with the possibility of a childless future – however critics warn it could encourage employees to work through their prime child-bearing years with no guarantee of later success. “Given our workplace structures, I can absolutely see why an individual would take it up,” says Dr Johnston. “What makes me sad is that it’s a way of coping with a broken system, like a Band-Aid solution.” Perhaps it is time to redesign workplace structures – not the women in them. More paid maternity and paternity leave, on-site childcare, flexible hours and equal pay could all create a climate where women don’t need to choose between having a family and a high-flying career. Dr Johnston also believes we need to look at the role men play in the fertility (or infertility) MY BABY BACK-UP PLAN conversation. “Why is it that women might find themselves in their 30s without partners? What Faith Salie says freezing her eggs was the are the male/female dynamics contributing to most empowering move she’s ever made [this]? We’re just ignoring the underlying pres- sures that lead to this situation, and reframing it “I always wanted to be a mother, especially like it’s an empowering choice,” she says. “I have after I lost my own mum when I was 26. But an eight-year-old daughter and if she says to me the feeling was notional. I didn’t spend my in 20 years’ time that she thinks she needs to (childless) 30s physically longing for a baby. freeze her eggs, a part of me will feel like we failed, I was too busy dealing with a devastating that we didn’t fix the issue that makes a woman marriage, divorce and career upheaval. feel she needs to do that – that it’s all on her.” “I started to see a fertility doctor when I was 38 … When I was 39, she suggested n February 6 this year, Kylie Jenner’s freezing my eggs. I was astonished to learn baby-name announcement became I was a candidate: I’d thought egg-freezing was Instagram’s most-liked-ever post for cute, youthful eggs. When she assured me with a cool 17.8 million thumbs-ups. that I was indeed a good candidate, I didn’t OSeven out of the app’s 10 most popular images de- hesitate. I was excited. Finally – after years of pict pregnancy and birth. Meanwhile, the media angst about whether and how I would become is rife with stories about “poor Jen [Aniston]” and a mother, after years of bad dates and aborted “childless Kylie [Minogue]”, reinforcing every last relationships – I was in charge. trope about the desperate, barren woman. “My first date with my husband was the It’s no surprise then that women often feel a night before I embarked on my egg-freezing. deep angst to reproduce, or that beneath the shiny Fifteen months later, in my wedding vows I packaging and promise of hope, egg-freezing told him, ‘I knew you were The One when sessions are sombre affairs. For some individuals, you let me put my syringe in your fridge!’ reproductive technology will afford a sense of “We now have two children. I conceived control; for others the choice will become a source my son naturally (after a miscarriage from of anxiety, fraught with future disappointment. another natural pregnancy), while my “It’s never up to me to say whether a woman daughter is the fierce and funny manifestation should [freeze her eggs]; she has to be comfort- of my frozen eggs. She was born after I’d had Above: egg-freezing advocate Faith Salie able in her decision,” says Dr Lieberman. “The last a miscarriage from that same batch of with her husband thing I want is to create a whole new generation of eggs-turned-embryos. and two children – women who are disappointed if technology fails “I am evangelical about egg-freezing. I their daughter was conceived from them. I describe egg-freezing as an insurance think every woman who can afford it should do an egg Salie froze policy against regret. But there’s no right answer.” it. Harnessing one’s fertility opens the doors when she was 39. Ella ultimately decided not to freeze her to all possibilities in career and in love. It’s the eggs – for now, at least. This month she’ll renew ultimate in happy motherhood to be able to her health and car insurance policies, but she’ll purposefully choose how and when you leave her fertility up to fate. Maybe she’ll meet become a mother and with whom.” someone and have a baby like she always hoped, but if she doesn’t, perhaps that life could be OK Salie is a US television and radio journalist too. No insurance policy, no regrets. and the author of Approval Junkie.

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