Parliament
Time to relook policy on social egg freezing, says MP
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Yuen Sin, Yuen Sin
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It is time to rethink Singapore's policy on social egg freezing, and put in place laws and a proper framework for healthy women to store their eggs till they are ready for pregnancy later, Ms Cheng Li Hui (Tampines GRC) said yesterday.
Currently, this is not allowed. Only women with specific medical disorders can undergo the procedure.
As a result, Ms Cheng said, a number of Singaporeans had to go abroad to freeze their eggs.
"Why do we create this environment where healthy women have to bear the cost and risk of doing this procedure overseas?" she asked.
To prevent abuse, she said laws can be introduced, including capping the age limit at 40 for social egg freezing, given the quality of eggs deteriorates drastically after 35. A couple must also be legally married before egg thawing and fertilisation can take place in the lab, she said.
There should also be a mandatory counselling session for women who wish to go through the procedure, so that they are fully informed of the financial costs and risks associated with the process. They should also be reminded that this does not guarantee conception later on, and expect the "emotional roller-coaster ride" that they will be undergoing, said Ms Cheng.
She also called for the use of MediSave for fertility health checks to be considered, or if possible, for such checks to be fully subsidised if done in the first three years of marriage.
This will encourage couples to seek information on fertility issues and access treatments and tests earlier, Ms Cheng said.
She suggested allowing more to go through pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) of embryos for in-vitro fertilisation. This screens for the correct number of chromosomes to improve the chances of conception.
"We should allow more to screen their embryos if they have suffered miscarriages, provided (there is) no gender selection," Ms Cheng said.
The PGS service was rolled out in 2017 as a pilot, and is accessible only to patients who meet specific criteria, such as those who have gone through two or more recurrent pregnancy losses.
Ms Cheng said: "I hope that as we continue to push on with our plans to reopen society and our economy... we will be able to also relook voluntary egg freezing and open our hearts and minds to support the hopes and dreams of many families here in Singapore."
