Egg Freezing for Future Planning | Health & Fertility Centre

By the time women in Singapore reach their 30s, many of them will have given serious thought to family planning. However, the idea of motherhood may not feel compatible with their current life stage. They may not have found the right person to settle down with, may be focused on their career, may lack the financial space to raise a child or may simply not feel ready yet.

This can cause many women to worry that they’re letting time slip by and that they’re losing out on a future opportunity.

Fortunately, through elective egg freezing, this doesn’t have to be the case.

What Is Elective Egg Freezing?

Egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) involves retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries, then freezing and storing them. It is commonly recommended to do this before or during your early 30s, as women tend to have a higher reserve of eggs within this range. The frozen egg cells are generally understood to reflect their biological age at the time of freezing, which may mean that earlier freezing can be associated with healthier eggs when they are utilised in the future.

At a later date, the egg cells can be thawed out and fertilised with sperm through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) before being planted in the uterus. This process may increase the chances of conception for an older woman. Through early fertility planning, women can be given a greater range of options for the right time to pursue motherhood.

Is Elective Egg Freezing Right for You?

If you’re still deciding whether it’s the right time to go through with elective egg freezing, here are some main factors that many women end up considering.

1. Family and Career Timeline

In a fast-paced society like Singapore, there can be strong expectations to reach certain milestones by specific ages. Many women feel this pressure from their families, or simply by observing peers who are getting married and having children of their own.

At the same time, motherhood may not align with a woman’s immediate plans. Some may still be building their careers, working towards financial stability or settling into a home of their own. Others may not yet feel emotionally ready or may not have found the right partner. While these reasons are valid, concerns about age and fertility can create a lingering sense of urgency about missing the ‘right time’ throughout one’s late 20s and early 30s.

Elective egg freezing offers an option that can help relieve this feeling. By preserving eggs earlier, many women feel less pressured to rush into parenthood before they are ready. Instead, it allows them to focus on their current priorities while keeping future options open, supporting a more considered and personal approach to family planning.

2. Fertility and Egg Health

A woman’s fertility is closely linked to both the quantity and quality of her eggs, which naturally decline with age. Women are born with a finite number of eggs, and this number naturally decreases over time. It is well known that one egg is released during ovulation. However, roughly 1000 eggs naturally die out on their own each month, and this figure tends to increase after the age of 35.

On top of this decrease in quantity, egg quality also tends to be higher in the late 20s and early 30s, which can influence the chances of successful fertilisation and pregnancy. As women age, egg cells may become more likely to develop chromosomal abnormalities, which can be associated with an increased risk of certain genetic conditions once fertilisation occurs.

Eggs frozen at a younger age are generally considered to reflect the biological age at which they were frozen. As a result, when used in the future, they may be associated with a higher chance of healthy conception compared to eggs retrieved at a later stage.

3. Medical Considerations

Certain conditions or treatments can affect ovarian function or reduce egg reserves. Women who may require treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or long-term medication for autoimmune conditions can experience a decline in fertility as a result of these procedures.

Family history also plays a part in fertility concerns. Women with close relatives who experienced early menopause or who have been diagnosed with conditions known to affect their ovaries, may choose to explore egg freezing earlier as a proactive measure.

While these factors do not mean fertility loss is inevitable, they can be disruptive to future conception plans. This makes it useful to discuss egg freezing with a fertility specialist when considering long-term reproductive planning.

What Does the Egg Freezing Process Involve?

The egg freezing process begins with a consultation and assessment, where your gynaecologist examines your overall health and ovarian reserves.

Next, you’ll go through a short course of hormonal stimulation, during which medication helps your ovaries develop multiple mature eggs instead of the single egg released in a natural cycle. Once your eggs have matured, a specialist uses ultrasound guidance to gently retrieve the eggs from the ovaries.

After retrieval, the mature eggs are then rapidly frozen through a method known as vitrification, which helps preserve their health and viability for future use. When the time comes to try for pregnancy, your frozen eggs can be thawed, fertilised with sperm through IVF, and implanted in the uterus.

What Makes My Early 30s The Ideal Time for Egg Freezing?

While egg freezing cannot fully guarantee a future pregnancy, it can offer women greater flexibility and reassurance when it comes to family planning. By preserving eggs between the ages of 28–35, a period when egg quality and quantity are often higher, some women may find that assisted reproductive options later involve less physical strain, potentially lower costs, and a broader range of possibilities.

Ultimately, egg freezing is about giving women more time to make decisions at their own pace and maintain greater confidence in their future possibilities. At the Health & Fertility Centre for Women, we believe in providing every patient high-quality care in a safe and comfortable environment.

Our resident Senior Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Dr Kelly Loi, has a large amount of expertise in the areas of fertility treatment and IVF. Together, our team takes a thoughtful, patient-centred approach to fertility planning, guided by medical expertise and a patient’s individual needs.

If you would like to learn more about elective egg freezing or discuss whether it may be suitable for you, contact us today to schedule a consultation.