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The number of women choosing to freeze their eggs to have babies later in life has soared, figures show.
There had been a “substantial increase” in the number of women freezing their eggs, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) found.
The most common reason given for freezing was having no male partner, according to the HFEA’s latest report.
In 2001, 29 women opted to freeze their eggs but since then there has been a sustained increase, the authority said. In 2014, 816 opted to delay motherhood and store their eggs for later use – a 25% increase on the previous year.
A third of women aged 37 and under froze their eggs because they had no male partner, with this figure rising to more than half for women aged 38 and over.
Other reasons for freezing eggs include impending medical treatment that may affect fertility – such as chemotherapy for cancer; not feeling ready for motherhood but concerned about fertility declining; the desire to delay motherhood for professional reasons; risk of injury or death, for instance...