Egg-Freeze Unadvised, Panel Says

A panel under the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology will not recommend that young and healthy women preserve their frozen eggs for future pregnancy, citing the health risks and relatively low pregnancy rate, panel sources said.

The decision may stir fresh debate in Japan on egg-freezing not conducted for medical reasons, as it contradicts the stance of another society of reproductive medicine experts and a recent move by a city near Tokyo to set aside funds to support egg preservation by women without dire health problems like cancer.

With the average age of women in Japan giving birth for the first time in 2013 reaching 30.4 years, egg-freezing has drawn increased interest as more women marry and give birth later in life.

The panel is expected to report the opinion at the society’s board meeting Saturday and convey its stance to doctors belonging to it, sources said Wednesday.

The panel says the pregnancy rate with frozen unfertilized eggs is lower than that with frozen fertilized eggs. The process of collecting eggs is also a burden on the body as...