In the corporate world, egg freezing is the new norm.
Many companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook offer their female employees an option to freeze their eggs so that they can do family planning at their pace and convenience. The scheme has been introduced following the larger demographic trend of millennial women delaying childbirth to focus on careers. They do not want children in their 20s, at the same time, do not want to face childbirth risks in their 30s and 40s. According to these corporations, a policy like this would help them.
Egg freezing became a rage after the American Society for Reproductive Medicine removed the ‘experimental’ tag from the procedure. Two years later, Silicon Valley companies began offering this service to female employees. Facebook started the trend and Apple and Google followed.
Female employees can avail of services such as basic extraction and preservation to the entire process of extraction to fertilization. And, the costs are more than $10,000 in most cases. However, experts say that the cost might come down once the procedure becomes more common than now.
Meanwhile, critics feel that egg freezing is not empowering women. It suggests that women should stay chained to their jobs and cannot have jobs and families at a time, claim the experts. They blame the companies for doing it because it is good for their business. Providing flexible schedules and egg freezing might alleviate the concerns.
