Egg freezing has become a growing topic of discussion in China, where officials alarmed by the country’s first population decline in six decades are trying to boost the birth rate even as young people are increasingly putting off marriage and childbearing or avoiding it altogether.
In 2021, the National Health Commission, responding to a proposal to make assisted reproductive technology available to single women, said egg freezing was more invasive than procedures undergone by men, raised ethical issues around commercialization and could have adverse social impact.
Members of China’s top political advisory body proposed again this year that unmarried women gradually be allowed to freeze their eggs to preserve their fertility, though they would have to be married to use them.
Dr. Ng Hung Yu, a clinical professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Hong Kong, said his hospital had received a growing number of egg-freezing inquiries since opening its services to single women from mainland China without any health issues.
Gu Yang, a third-party coordinator at Los Angeles Reproductive Center, said the number of women from mainland China coming in for consultations on egg freezing seemed to be increasing, and that they seemed to be getting younger.
After fighting for limited appointments for a Hong Kong visa and undergoing long preparation cycles, Huang eventually froze 15 eggs, saying it was necessary to take control of the “steering wheel” of her life.
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