Eggs on Ice

In the not too distant future young women could be able to drop into a bank during their lunchbreak and deposit their eggs for safe keep until they are needed in maybe 10, 20 or even 40 years later. It may sound bizarre but medics are predicting this is only a couple of years away.

In the not too distant future young women could be able to drop into a bank during their lunchbreak and deposit their eggs for safe keep until they are needed in maybe 10, 20 or even 40 years later. It may sound bizarre but medics are predicting this is only a couple of years away…..

Since many women are now choosing to leave motherhood until a later stage, this revolutionary development leaves women to get on with their lives without worrying about their biological clock.

In 2002, the median age of all women giving birth in Australia was 30.2 years and the Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts this is on the rise.
Unlike previous generations, getting married and starting a family has taken a back-seat as women are now focussing on building a successful career, travelling and generally just having fun.

At 20 years old a woman’s eggs are at their best and have a one in 1000 chance of conceiving a Downs Syndrome baby. At 30 the risk of Down Syndrome is increased to one in 600 and at 40 it is one in 62.

Specialists have recently discovered a way to successfully freeze and thaw eggs without inflicting any damage. A dozen or so eggs are frozen in canisters of liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees celcius.

When the owner is ready to have a baby the eggs are thawed and fertilised by intracytoplasmic sperm injection , ICSI, in other words the injection of a single sperm into the egg. This has as much chance of successful fertilisation as an egg fresh from the ovaries and doctor’s are confident there is no apparent impact on the embryo’s development.

Many specialists believe the opening of “egg banks” is no more than a couple of years away.