27 Sep 2023 More Women Are Freezing Their Eggs Due to Lack of Suitable Men

Prior to 2012, egg freezing had been deemed “experimental” by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and the procedure had been largely only available to patients who were undergoing chemotherapy or other medical treatments that affect fertility. Removing egg freezing from the classification of “experimental” opened the procedure up to a larger population of women, and now over a decade later, the number of women freezing their eggs to preserve their fertility has increased significantly. Although part of this increase in egg freezing can be attributed to women choosing careers first and motherhood later, new research shows that most women freezing their eggs are single women who have yet to find a suitable male partner.

Marcia C. Inhorn, anthropologist and Yale professor who has researched the social impact of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for over 35 years and author of the book, Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs, tells The Guardian she began her research with a hypothesis: that career and educational aspiration was driving the turn to egg freezing.

After conducting interviews with 150 women who froze their eggs (most of them heterosexual women who wanted a partner to have children with), she proved that her own hypothesis was incorrect. Contrary to popular belief, educated and successful women are not postponing their childbearing years due to the need to sustain their careers, but rather as an attempt to bridge the fertility gap while waiting for the right male partner to come along.

Over the course of conducting the interviews, Inhorn overwhelmingly found that most of the women were in their thirties, single, and motivated to freeze their eggs due to partnership issues. She goes on to tell The Guardian, “They were one after another women who had been successful in their career and at the same time had been looking for a partner, but they just couldn’t find that reproductive partner,”

Lack of Partners with Higher Education and Success Leads to Increase in Egg Freezing

According to Inhorn, men who do not have similar backgrounds may be intimidated by women who earn more money and have higher levels of education. Ihhorn tells Yale News that men are lacking what she calls “the ‘three Es’ in potential partners: eligible, educated, and equal.”

A significant factor is that fewer men are pursuing a college education and advanced degrees. Women became the majority of college students in 1979, per The New York Times, and the trend has continued rising as the educational disparities continue to grow. The Guardian states that in 2019, 28 percent more women than men in the U.S. had higher education degrees, and USA Today reports that currently, almost 60 percent of college students are women while only 40 percent are men. Men are slowly falling away from higher education while women are climbing toward it.

Many women interviewed by Inhorn said they wanted equitable relationships but that finding partners with equal levels of education and financial stability proved difficult, and many of the women she interviewed also said they often felt that men who had less education and financial success were misogynistic. Given what these women reported, one wonders about the impact of societal and familial norms that may influence the feelings and behaviors of some men, such as the perceived need to make more money, have a higher level of education or have a more successful career than a woman. It may be that the belief that men must be the boss and the breadwinner is more deeply engrained than we thought, leading to some men feeling intimidated by successful women.

However, Inhorn also tells The Guardian that she found in her study a common sentiment that some men are unwilling to commit to partnering with a woman and welcoming parenthood, giving rise to the term “Peter Pans,” men who may be well-educated and successful, but still have the mindset of wanting to be single and have fun (in other words, men “who don’t grow up”). Inhorn says that Peter Pans may not be ready for partnership until they are well into their 40s and 50s.

Beyond the concerns about potential partners that Inhorn found in her studies, is the growing awareness that more women have about the fact that their fertility decreases with age.

Women Turned to Egg Freezing Due to the Pandemic

 According to ASRM, egg freezing increased by 31 percent in 2021, marking a significant increase in fertility preservation treatment. During the pandemic, many women’s social lives were put on pause, leading experts to believe that part of the increase in egg freezing is possibly due to social limitations during this period. Women may have realized their biological clocks were still ticking while the world was on hold.

Sarah Norcross, the director of the Progress Educational Trust, an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions, told The Guardian, “The dramatic rise in the number of egg-freezing cycles could be linked to the pandemic. Restrictions on socializing may have prompted some women to think more about their fertile window and decide to try to increase their reproductive choices.”

Kari Arenberg, a 31-year-old event producer who was furloughed during the pandemic, is a perfect example. She tells Time that her traveling job was not conducive to dating or freezing her eggs, but the pandemic gave her an opportunity to slow down and look ahead for the first time. She decided that egg freezing was a viable option for her future and after going through the process, she was able to freeze 21 eggs. Arenberg goes on to say in Time, “I don’t know if I want kids, but maybe if I meet the right person someday, this just provided a nice comfort level where I can make some decisions about dating and kids and work when things get back to normal.”

Egg Freezing Gives Women Hope for the Future

Being able to proactively choose to freeze their eggs while waiting for the right partner to come along has given women a sense of control when it comes to their own biological clock. Jenny Hayes Edwards, who froze her eggs at the age of 34, tells The New York Times that she owned three restaurants at the time she went through her cryopreservation cycle and had no time to date or nurture a relationship. She says those eggs gave her time to find the right partner and meet her husband and not operate her life with a sense of urgency. She gave birth to a daughter ten years later and tells The New York Times, “I approached everything differently knowing that those eggs were there. I was calmer about my dating life, and I wasn’t panicked about my biological clock. I feel really proud of myself for being patient.”

As greater acceptance of ART continues, the choices that women have are becoming more apparent; they no longer need to synchronize their dating lives with their biological clocks, giving them the time to find a suitable partner, should they desire one.

The increase in women freezing their eggs will likely continue, as more women choose to create their own path to parenthood. Women no longer need to yield to the societal pressure of simultaneously having it all at the same time: an education, a career, a partner, and parenthood. Women are advancing, and it’s time we celebrated that. Please feel free to reach out to our expert team of fertility law professionals with any questions or for guidance on your egg freezing journey. We are happy to help.