Surge In Taiwanese Women Freezing Their Eggs, Here's Why

The demand for egg freezing in Taiwan has increased, women in the age bracket 35 to 39 are opting for the technology up 86% over the past three years, as per the National Taiwan University Hospital research study. Single women are allowed to freeze their eggs in Taiwan but can only legally use eggs to conceive if in a heterosexual marriage. 

According to a Reuters report, the Founder of Taiwan’s first egg bank- Stork Fertility Centre, Dr Lai Hsing-Hua pointed out that new patients in its two clinics have surged 50 % year-on-year, and the clinic helped over 800 women freeze their eggs. 

Taiwanese Women Freezing Their Eggs

The surge also came after two local governments, Hsinchu and Taoyu started subsidising egg freezing this year. Only around 8% of women used their eggs after being frozen, compared with around 38% in the United States, as per doctors in Taiwan. 

Cost Of Treatment 

Egg freezing is difficult for a woman having an average annual salary of less than $19,000. The treatment costs $2,600 to $3,900 for the extraction, medication and clinic visits and $160 to $320 in annual storage fees.

Taiwan has a fertility rate of 0.89 children per woman, less than half the replacement level of 2.1. In a Reuters report, a policy specialist at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Chen Li-Chuan claimed, "Taiwan plans a comprehensive evaluation before deciding whether to expand access to artificial reproduction, given it is a complex ethical, medical and legal issue involving many stakeholders."

Women cannot have children by freezing eggs out of wedlock. She needs to be married. This probably excludes single women and homosexual married couples as well. Taiwan was the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage in 2019 and granted same-sex couples the right to jointly adopt a child in May this year. 

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