Perhaps you’ve heard of an employer providing egg freezing as a benefit for their female employees - or maybe your company offers it. Between marketing by fertility companies and being listed as a “health benefit” by employers, egg freezing promises to offer women further reproductive freedom. But is this accurate? And is egg freezing truly beneficial for women? A close look at the procedure reveals that egg freezing carries serious risks that are worth paying attention to. Here are five reasons to be wary.
1. Risks to immediate health.
Despite (misleading) advertising to the contrary, the process of egg extraction and freezing carries serious health risks, including ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a condition that comes with complications such as kidney failure and burst cysts that require surgery. In 1% of women, OHSS is fatal. The hormones used to stimulate the ovaries to produce many eggs in a single cycle also increase a woman’s risk of blood clots and some cancers. The ultimate long-term risks remain unknown, as there has yet to be a longitudinal study to reveal the outcomes for women who undergo these procedures.
2. Risks to future fertility.
This is another case where the fertility industry offers flat-out lies to women to entice them into entering their clinics. For example, one Southern California clinic boasts, “Your ovarian reserve and future fertility are unaffected.”
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