Freezing eggs to preserve reproductive capacity goes mainstream

There s good news for women facing chemotherapy, and for women of a certain age who are seeking to stop their biological clock the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has concluded that freezing a woman s eggs should no longer be considered experimental.

After reviewing 1,000 published studies on the practice, the society said egg freezing to treat infertility or postpone childbearing should be considered a safe and effective clinically available technique.

Still, some women s health experts are worried that eggs frozen in liquid nitrogen and rethawed may not produce healthy babies, NPR reports.

ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross acknowledges that most women want to have children eventually, but emphasizes that the hormonal treatment required for egg-harvesting is neither pleasant to endure, nor inexpensive, especially since these procedures are largely not covered by insurance. And of course there s no guarantee of success similar to real life.