CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
THE QUESTION
Has there been an uptick in women freezing their eggs during the pandemic?
THE SOURCES:
- Our sources are the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
- And founder of the Carolinas Fertility Institute, Dr. Tamer Yalcinkaya -- also known as Dr. Y.
THE ANSWER:
"We also noticed this and actually analyzed our volume of patients coming in before COVID-19 and compared it during COVID-19 and the recent reopening, and we had noticed a 4-fold increase in the number of patients requesting fertility preservation," Dr. Y said.
According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, biologically it's easier to get pregnant before age 30. However due to professional, social or health reasons, a woman might not be ready to get pregnant at that time and she might want to defer having a child until the time is right for her.
Dr. Y says if a patient is paying out of pocket, it costs roughing $6,000 and that's not including added medication.
"With advancing age, the female especially between the age of 33, 34 onwards a woman continues to lose the number of eggs she was born with," Dr. Y said.
According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, egg freezing typically works best for those in their 20s to early 30s and it's not usually recommended for women over the age of 38.
So we can VERIFY -- as for the Carolinas Fertility Institute -- there has been an increase in egg freezing since the pandemic. But research hasn't been done as to why, and it may be different for every woman.
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