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Women these days are postponing their plans of starting their family as they get busy in their careers. But, as their biological clock keeps ticking, women worry of conceiving unhealthy babies in their later years. Now, with new technological advancements, they can get over such worries and conceive at a time when they are comfortable and prepared to start a family. Women are increasingly opting to freeze their eggs and store them in ‘Fertility Banks’ to use them at a later stage to conceive. A clinic in Toronto offers a service called "Freeze Your Clock" offering a long-term service of freezing eggs and sperms of young and healthy people. Freezing eggs is not a new concept; in fact, it has been used by women who are undergoing treatments for various medical conditions such as cancer and Turner’s syndrome. Since it is not advised to conceive during the treatments, freezing eggs is considered a good option for such women who want to conceive later. The treatment costing $5000 involves 10 to 12 days of fertility treatments including injections of follicle stimulating hormone to produce multiple eggs, which are then surgically removed, frozen and stored and $300 for a year’s storage. When the women are ready to conceive, the eggs are thawed, fertilized and the resulting embryo is then implanted in the womb. A new technique called ‘Flash Freeezing Eggs’ makes it possible to protect eggs from getting damaged during the thawing process, giving women chances of higher pregnancy rates. The clinic claims that they try and dissuade younger clients from undergoing such an invasive and expensive procedure and the clients first meet a psychologist for counseling before they start the treatment. The health officials are worried as it raises ethical issues such as ‘generation of older parents’ even as more and more young couples are opting for such services. Canadian officials are also contemplating on restricting the number of clinics that are licensed to perform the procedures. Image Source