The Netherlands is witnessing a surge in the number of women choosing to freeze their eggs, not to delay motherhood, but primarily due to the absence of a suitable life partner, as reported by the Volkskrant
Amsterdam’s university medical centre reported a 25% increase in egg freezing over two years, while Erasmus MC in Rotterdam saw a doubling of the numbers. Fertility clinic MC Kinderwens retrieved eggs from about 440 women last year, a significant rise from 150 in 2021. Clinics now store around 34,000 eggs from 2,200 women.
This growing trend has led to longer waiting lists, with an average waiting time of 15 months in Leiderdorp and Amsterdam UMC opening a second location to reduce waiting times from two years to four months. Some clinics in Utrecht have had to decline new patients. The mainstream acceptance of egg freezing is evident on social media, with the paper identifying 84,000 Instagram posts dedicated to the subject.
Companies like Google, McKinsey, and LinkedIn offer women the option to freeze their eggs as part of their employment benefits, with the procedure costing approximately €3,700 per cycle.
Contrary to the perception that egg freezing is a luxury for affluent career women, gynecologist Mariëtte Goddijn emphasizes that most women opt for this procedure due to the lack of a suitable partner rather than personal whims.
Women are driven by the fear that they might be told they are too late to conceive, as their biological clocks are out of sync with their life circumstances, notes Joop Laven of Erasmus MC. Sabra Dahhan of UMC Utrecht adds that women seek to “buy time” and “stop the clock.”
Reproductive sociologist Lucy van de Wiel attributes the trend to the increasing uncertainty in young people’s lives, marked by longer periods of study, delayed home-leaving, temporary contracts, and delayed partnerships.
Statistics confirm this shift in life milestones, with only 30% of people in their 20s living with a partner, compared to 60% at the beginning of the century. Permanent job positions have become more common, while homeownership and childbirth are happening later, with the average age for childbirth surpassing 30 in 2019.
Corporate lawyer Adinda Karperien from Amsterdam shared her experience of turning to egg freezing at 32 after her partner of eight years unexpectedly ended the relationship.
“I was 32 and had to start over. I knew that it could take years to build up another relationship and take the step of having children. Meanwhile my chances of conceiving would go down.”
Did you freeze your eggs? Would you like to share your story? Drop us a line at mystory@ivfbabble.com.
