{"id":65585,"date":"2025-08-12T09:44:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T05:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=65585"},"modified":"2025-08-12T09:44:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T05:44:02","slug":"frozen-assets-navigating-egg-freezing-in-the-uae-in-your-30s","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/frozen-assets-navigating-egg-freezing-in-the-uae-in-your-30s\/","title":{"rendered":"Frozen Assets: Navigating Egg Freezing In The UAE In Your 30s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s something I didn\u2019t expect to do the week after my 33rd birthday: squint at a fuzzy screen, looking at the follicles inside my ovaries. They looked like the black holes in NASA images, but my OB-GYN looked excited. I was a \u201cgreat candidate\u201d for egg freezing. Great, but I was also really scared about being under anaesthetic during the retrieval process, and even more so at the idea of pushing my body to even higher heights of productivity at a time when I needed some respite. The procedure was also eye-wateringly expensive. But what were my alternatives? I could lose my chance of becoming a mother\u2026 Could I put a price on family? On happiness? On hope?<\/p>\n

I decided to move forward with the procedure. It would be painful, maybe even a bit punishing, but I would claim my right to rest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the past six months I have finalised a divorce, bought my first property (on which I also began renovations), and scored a promotion at work. I\u2019ve ticked off arguably some of the biggest moments life can throw at you from my 2025 bingo card. But this one trumps all: I decided to join the vanguard of one of the biggest significant social changes for women since the advent of the Pill. I decided to spend a small fortune (Dhs23,000 as a starting point \u2013 more if you have to repeat the procedure) to freeze as many eggs as science can help me produce in a month or two and keep them in a cryogenic vat, indefinitely.<\/p>\n

In truth, I have never given much thought to my biological clock, let alone have the wherewithal to begin stockpiling contingencies for an entire hypothetical family. But after undergoing the very sobering experience of ending a marriage \u2013 which notoriously dovetails into financial devastation \u2013 I didn\u2019t want to (and perhaps never will) join the frantic race against the clock to find a new life-partner because my ovaries have a sell-by date. And at 33, I faced mounting pressure from the matriarchs in my family. \u201cYou ought to hurry up and get on that baby train,\u201d an aunt loudly declared last summer, pointing at my belly. Egg freezing felt like a way to take back control of my life and silence the opinions around me.<\/p>\n

Now it has become a prevailing topic of conversation among women in their 30s, who are trying to work out \u2013 and are reminded of by society nearly every waking minute \u2013 how our biological clocks tick. We\u2019re forced to fall victim to a race against time, and are constantly questioned about how this might fit in with our reproductive plans. It\u2019s like trying to imagine a future version of myself, a hologram of life not yet lived. It\u2019s strange, being in a bind with your own biology. A bit like an episode of Black Mirror.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m also loathe to perpetuate the fear that, as women, if we end up without children we have somehow failed, but I was approaching the proverbial age (35) that experts suggest our reproductive health noticeably downshifts, so now seemed like a good as time as any, I told myself. One recommendation from my gynaecologist and a few Google searches later, I\u2019d booked an appointment at Orchid Fertility Clinic.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

As the biggest fertility clinic in the region, its pedigree in the UAE is pretty unparalleled. I met with Dr. Serge Mattar,<\/a> who pulled out a chart showing female fertility after age 35 \u2013 a curve swooping exponentially downward. \u201cWomen are born with about 1 to 2 million eggs, but by puberty that number declines to around 300,000\u2013400,000,\u201d he tells me. \u201cBy the age of 35, a woman typically has between 25,000 and 50,000 eggs remaining, and their quality declines sharply, with only about 50% of resulting embryos being chromosomally normal, compared to higher rates in younger women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Women opting to freeze their eggs (oocyte cryopreservation, in doctor-speak) have inherently different needs and expectations (and insurance reimbursements, which are typically non-existent) than the couples grappling with infertility in IVF waiting rooms. Though there are endless public discussions about pregnancy journeys, fertility \u2013 well, in this region, at least \u2013 is much less talked about, save from the usual \u2018don\u2019t leave it too late\u2019 warning. Describing what actually happens when you freeze your eggs is one of the things not widely heard about. \u201cThe egg freezing process usually begins around day two or three of your menstrual cycle, with daily hormone injections that you self-administer using a small, thin needle for 10 to 12 days,\u201d says Dr. Serge. \u201cDuring this phase, you\u2019ll come to the clinic for a couple of brief follow-up visits, where we monitor the growth of your eggs using ultrasound and, occasionally, a blood test. Throughout this stimulation period, you can continue with your normal routine, including work, travel, and exercise. Once your eggs are ready, you\u2019ll undergo a 10-minute procedure under mild anaesthesia, during which a needle is used to gently retrieve the eggs. Most patients resume regular activities the very next day. The collected eggs are then assessed for maturity, and the mature ones are frozen for future use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as I write this \u2013 and the wallet-size case, cleverly designed to fit the hypodermic needles and the tiny vials of hormones, sits on my desk ready for the daily self-administered injections \u2013 I wonder how many 20-something-year-old women know what they actually have to put their body through to freeze their eggs? Not only is the cost eye-watering, but there\u2019s a whole heap of tests you need to do beforehand, plus the potential side-effects of pumping your body full of hormones for two weeks: nausea, bloating, abdominal pain, crying\u2026 If we\u2019re going to raise awareness about fertility, we need to be clear about what these things involve. It isn\u2019t scaremongering to be realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore starting egg freezing, you\u2019ll undergo a few essential tests to ensure your treatment is perfectly tailored and to set realistic expectations,\u201d Dr. Serge informs me. \u201cFirst, your doctor will order a blood test \u2013 which can be done any day of your cycle without fasting \u2013 to measure your TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and prolactin levels, ensuring any imbalances are addressed before treatment. This same test also checks your AMH (anti-Mullerian hormone) level, a key indicator of your ovarian reserve, which helps personalise your stimulation protocol and predicts the number of eggs that may be retrieved. In addition, an ultrasound is performed to rule out any gynaecologic abnormalities and to count the antral follicles, offering further insights into your ovarian reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite the cost of the procedure, experts have weighed in on whether this is ushering in a new era of gender equality and career advancement for women, or whether we have just handed a high-tech medical solution to the patriarchy. A now-famous 2014 Bloomberg Businessweek<\/em> cover story promised a new option for professional women: \u201cFreeze Your Eggs, Free Your Career.\u201d There are companies such as Apple and Facebook which have now implemented policies offering to cover up to $20,000 (Dhs73,458) of the cost of egg freezing for their female employees. On the surface, it\u2019s a move towards empowering us by levelling the reproductive playing \ufb01eld between women and men. But it\u2019s also creating an undercurrent of conversation as to whether this is some Machiavellian way to get women to put off their child-bearing years for as long as possible. Could it be corporate manipulation at its \ufb01nest?<\/p>\n

For me, the truth is thus: breakthroughs in egg-freezing technology are now offering women a realistic chance to extend their fertility. The path of egg freezing is scary, invasive, and even a little bit painful \u2013 but it\u2019s also exciting. For someone whose family-planning goals hadn\u2019t progressed beyond building little houses in the quaint town of Pleasentview in The Sims 2, I now feel sustained by an overwhelming and constant reminder that I have freed myself \u2013 and my ovaries \u2013 from the tyranny of an expiration date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29103,"featured_media":65595,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[260,35,3209],"yoast_head":"\nFrozen Assets: Navigating Egg Freezing In The UAE Your 30s<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As fertility tech becomes more accessible and the stigma around traditional gender roles melts away, more women are choosing egg freezing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/frozen-assets-navigating-egg-freezing-in-the-uae-in-your-30s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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