The Stereotypes Of Egg Freezing In India

A Miss World crown comes along with a wide array of responsibilities and duties and not to forget with the task of being a role model to millions to people across the globe Although seldom do the personal lives of the winners go on to make an impact on the lives of commoners, but rareness might just have happened. Diana Hayden made India proud when she became Miss World 1997 at the age of 24. Now, at the age of 42, gave birth to a daughter named Arya in January this year after freezing her eggs eight years ago.

"I wouldn't want to get married just to have a kid, or just to do the conventional thing. So, you give yourself that option, where there's no pressure. You hear that tick-tick behind you because you feel it,” Diana said. She married Collin Dick in 2013. Diana Hayden, who agreed that Arya happened because of her foresight so many years ago, continued: "I know how I felt when I froze my eggs. I just felt so free. Because I felt time is on my side. I can make my choices, make the right decisions and lead my life. Today, you have a choice. All you're doing is saving your chance for 'what if.'" 

16 of Diana’s eggs were frozen between October 2007 and March 2008. Arya was born on January 9, 2016.

Dr. Hrishikesh Pai, who brought the egg freezing technology to India, said that traditional ideas of marriage and family are shifting: "Now trends have changed. Lifestyle has changed. People are getting married late and kids late. That's why it is important. These things have started becoming relevant now that weren't relevant 10 years ago."

This action by her gives hope to those women who don’t want to rush for becoming mothers. But while young Indians feel that freezing of human egg is a smart move for career-oriented women, social stigma continues to be attached to the new-age fertilization process. Egg freezing is still not very popular in India, said Shobha Gupta, medical director and IVF Specialist at Mother’s Lap IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) Centre.“People in India still open their eyes wide if they hear such things, especially in joint and conservative families. On the other hand, IVF has been accepted widely in India, but egg freezing is yet to gain approval or social acceptability in India,” Gupta told agency. Another expert, Anubha Singh, gynecologist and IVF Expert at Shantah IVF Centre, said that “Egg freezing is not a normal procedure like IVF or surrogacy, but if you are an individual and you don’t need any family member’s approval, you can definitely go for this”.

In India, freezing embryos costs Rs. 10,000 to Rs.15,000 per month, and the frozen embryo transfer cycle costs Rs.100,000 to Rs.200,000 per cycle. Embryo transfer is the main part of the IVF process – and it usually takes 10 to 15 days to be injected in a woman’s womb.

Even the miracle boon that it is, the stereotypes and stigmas associated with egg freezing in India still seem to be hang around, mostly because the concept is still very new and most people are ignorant about the process. Stereotypes and stigmas include that it is meant for only working women, it leads to birth defects, it lessens the chances of becoming mother naturally again, the baby born out of the birth will not be normal, etc.

Only right amount of education and awareness can throw away these nuisances and give an opportunity for thousands and thousands of women to become mother at a time when they want to become one.