As South Korea's birth rate continues to decline, the authorities in Seoul have decided to innovate by subsidizing egg freezing, AFP reported.
With just 0.7 births per woman at the end of 2023, South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, well below the replacement rate, meaning its population is aging and shrinking rapidly.
The government has already invested billions of dollars to try to boost birth rates. Authorities in Seoul are now proposing to subsidize egg freezing, although experts say the initiative is unlikely to reverse the country's demographic decline.
Jeong, who is 40 years old, decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
"I was pressured to have a child because of my age, so I decided to get married quickly," explained this woman, who asked to be identified only by her last name.
"When I was in my mid-thirties, I proposed to the man I was in a relationship with that we get married as soon as possible, but it didn't work out," she continued.
In theory, egg freezing allows women to preserve their fertility. But the chances of success are greater for those who do it before the quality of their eggs starts to decline, usually from the age of 38.
That's why Jeong is turning to a backup solution, freezing her eggs, and says she no longer feels "so worried" about being single or running the risk of not having children.
"Now that I have frozen eggs as insurance, I can take my time" to find the right person, she said.
In Seoul, they believe that helping women freeze their eggs is the "most practical solution" to "invest in potential future births," the city council said.
According to the mayor's office, "as the age of marriage and childbearing continues to decline and women's participation in society becomes more important, there is growing interest from single women who seek to be able to conceive and give birth in the future".
In practice, however, this program will only help women who are married and have a child through intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF), as these procedures are virtually impossible to obtain from unmarried or same-sex couples, as many clinics require marriage certificates.
Egg-freezing technology has been available in South Korea since the late 1990s, but the procedure is poorly known and in little demand.
Until recent years, only women with cancer who were at risk of losing their fertility were interested in the procedure, says Cha Kwang-yul, who heads CHA Medical Center. Recently, "the culture has changed and people have started to say, 'if you're not going to get married, keep your eggs.'" / BGNES
