1st December 2014 | by MFC Team
Grandparents in waiting: More parents paying for their daughters to freeze their eggs
With the trend for women to delay childbearing into their 30s and 40s, more parents, and want-to-be grandparents, appear willing to spend their savings to pay for their adult daughters to freeze their eggs, and when necessary, their IVF treatments.
Doctor Geeta Nargund, Medical Director of Create Fertility Clinics, and a consultant for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, says that we are witnessing a “cultural shift” where the older generation is open to funding their children’s fertility treatments. Medical experts say that while it’s ideal for women to have children in their 20s, the reality is that most women have no choice but to delay childbearing while pursuing education, careers, a suitable relationship, and financial stability. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult for women in their late 30s and 40s to become pregnant. Freezing their eggs when they are younger is one option to preserve their fertility, but it is a very expensive option, costing approximately $10,000 – $12,000. Since many women can’t afford egg freezing, it appears that more parents are agreeing to help pay for their daughters to freeze their eggs, rather than risk not becoming grandparents.
According to Dr. Nargund:
“Five years ago it was almost unheard of for patients to have their parents funding their IVF treatment or grandparents funding fertility treatment but now we receive a lot of inquiries… I run frequent open days, the room takes anywhere between 16 and 20 couples in London and you tend to have at least two of three where parents come with their daughters now – that never happened before.”
Read more about fertility preservation here and here.
Read more about the new trend here.
Leave a Reply