SINGAPORE, May 16 — The age limit for women looking to undergo elective egg freezing and for those donating eggs for use by other women will be raised from 35 to 37 years old.
The change to the policy allowing women to choose elective egg freezing is in line with the latest research showing successful rates of egg freezing for women up to 37 years of age, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in a joint press statement yesterday (May 15).
In Singapore, women may undergo elective egg freezing only for medical reasons. The shift to allowing women to choose to do so to preserve their fertility is set to be implemented by July 1.
It remains the case that women may use frozen eggs only if legally married and with the consent of their husband.
MoH and MSF said that the shift in policy “came after careful consideration, recognising that there may be women who desire to preserve their fertility, because of personal circumstances”.
“This could include the desire to marry and conceive, but being unable to find a partner while they were younger.”
In addition, the research at this point shows that success rates using eggs from women older than 37 years continues to decline.
Elective egg freezing is a process of collecting, freezing and storing a woman’s eggs to preserve her fertility.
The move to allow women to choose to undergo elective egg freezing came after the government's White Paper on Singapore women’s development in 2022, which set the age limit at 35 years. This age limit was tied to the prevailing age limit for egg donors.
MoH and MSF also said that they would continue to monitor the domestic and international evidence to assess the age limits for freezing and subsequent use of eggs.
“The government remains committed and will continue to encourage and support Singaporeans to pursue their marriage and parenthood aspirations as early as possible,” they said.
At a doorstop interview yesterday, when asked whether the age review would help increase the total fertility rate, Sun Xueling, Minister of State for Social and Family Development, said: “Having children is a very personal decision.
“I think talking to couples about the total fertility rate is not something that motivates them to decide whether or not to have children.
“What we want to do is to make available the options for women so that when they do decide to have children, they know that they have an option of using frozen eggs that they chose to freeze when they were younger.”
Sun reiterated that while single women above the age of 21 can undergo elective egg freezing, a woman can use her frozen eggs only if she is legally married and has her husband's consent.
She also said that the elective egg freezing procedure remains unsubsidised.
“When it comes to conceiving a child, the government encourages parenthood within marriage,” she added.
“So for a woman to use the frozen embryo to have a child, she will need to be married and to also have the consent of her husband. There is no change in (this) policy.”
Associate Professor Sadhana Nadarajah said that raising the age limit from 35 to 37 years of age will not pose a higher risk to the baby and the mother.
The head of the department of reproductive medicine at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital added: “Things don’t just change so drastically within two years, such as developing a new medical condition. But surely, the quality of the egg will drop with age.
“There is a gradual drop (in egg quality) as a woman ages.
“However, we need to take into context that most women who do in-vitro fertilisation are usually between 35 and 39 years of age. I think allowing women to freeze eggs up to 37 years of age will help this group tremendously, and it is a step in the right direction.” ― TODAY
