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Rachel Lehmann-Haupt was 37 when she froze her eggs, a process technically known as oocyte cryopreservation. She knew it wouldn't guarantee her fertility. But the San Francisco-based writer had just ended a relationship and knew she wanted kids.
"I wanted to buy biological time," said Lehmann-Haupt, now 40 and still childless. "The older I get, the more I think, 'God, maybe the eggs I froze will be my route to motherhood.'"
As women increasingly delay childbearing until their 30s or 40s, many are discovering the biological clock waits for no one.
Women lose much of their natural fertility between 35 and 40, according to Dr. Nicole Noyes, co-director of the Oocyte Cryopreservation program at the New York University fertility center and Lehmann-Haupt's doctor.
As women age, the quality of their eggs also decreases, which increases the chance of miscarrying, Noyes said.
The process of freezing eggs
Though women can't make their eggs healthier, they can keep them from getting older through egg freezing. The process, which takes between two to six weeks, involves taking fertility medication to mature multiple eggs...
"I wanted to buy biological time," said Lehmann-Haupt, now 40 and still childless. "The older I get, the more I think, 'God, maybe the eggs I froze will be my route to motherhood.'"
As women increasingly delay childbearing until their 30s or 40s, many are discovering the biological clock waits for no one.
Women lose much of their natural fertility between 35 and 40, according to Dr. Nicole Noyes, co-director of the Oocyte Cryopreservation program at the New York University fertility center and Lehmann-Haupt's doctor.
As women age, the quality of their eggs also decreases, which increases the chance of miscarrying, Noyes said.
The process of freezing eggs
Though women can't make their eggs healthier, they can keep them from getting older through egg freezing. The process, which takes between two to six weeks, involves taking fertility medication to mature multiple eggs...