Kudos to Tampines GRC MP Cheng Li Hui for suggesting that Singapore review the issue of allowing social egg freezing by healthy women and the laws associated with it (Time to relook policy on social egg freezing, says MP, Feb 26).

I suppose it takes a woman to know the feelings of the many young women out there.

I am 71 years old, and gave birth to a healthy baby via in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) 36 years ago. I have walked the thorny path of infertility and fully understand the issue.

It is creditable that as far back as the 1980s, Singapore experimented with IVF. I was 35 then, and had failed to conceive after years of conventional surgery and treatment. My husband and I took the plunge to conceive through IVF, although it was then only an experimental procedure, fraught with many unknowns.

Today, many babies are born through further-improved assisted reproduction techniques.

Currently, only women with specific medical disorders are allowed to freeze their eggs in Singapore.

It is disconcerting to know that young women in Singapore now have to go overseas to freeze their eggs. They do so even though they would have preferred Singapore's more trustworthy healthcare system.

Given that Singapore not only is a centre for medical innovation, but also faces a declining fertility rate among its citizens, it seems paradoxical that Singaporeans have to seek help overseas.

A shift in mindset is needed to address this problem.

There should be some guidelines issued by the health authorities on social egg freezing by healthy women, although, by and large, the matter is really something personal.

As an aside, Singapore's medical tourism industry may also see a boost from a world-class medical centre offering this service.

Let us leave no stone unturned in helping our young citizens have children when they are ready for them.

Kala Puspanathan