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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : October 16, 2014 5:37 PM IST
Today, women are at the fore-front of a number of industries including technology. But in an effort to retain and encourage their female employees, Silicon Valley giants Facebook and Apple will pay for employees to freeze their eggs, a move that some say could also be a ploy to entice women to 'sell their souls to their employer'. The popular social networking site recently began covering egg freezing, while the technology giant would start in January, spokespeople for the companies told NBC News.
The firms appear to be the first major employers to offer this coverage for non-medical reasons. While Apple covers costs under its fertility benefit, Facebook does it under its surrogacy benefit, both up to USD 20,000. Women at Facebook began taking advantage of the coverage this year. While both firms offer benefits for fertility treatment and adoption, Facebook is famous for giving new parents USD 4,000 in so-called 'baby cash' to use however they d like.
The news comes amidst a raging debate over women pay in the fiercely competitive and male-dominated technology sector after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella remarked that women employees should not ask for a pay raise but leave it on their 'karma' to get their dues. 'Having a high-powered career and children is still a very hard thing to do,' said Brigitte Adams, an egg-freezing advocate and founder of the patient forum Eggsurance.Com.
Through the benefit, companies are investing in women and supporting them in carving out the lives they want, she said. The option of freezing their eggs would give women the flexibility to put their fertility on hold while they focus on moving up in their careers and not having to worry about the ticking biological clock.
Given that it is a very expensive procedure with a price tag of over USD 10,000 for every round, not every women can afford the option to freeze the eggs. 'With notoriously male-dominated Silicon Valley firms competing to attract top female talent, the coverage may give Apple and Facebook a leg up among the many women who devote key childbearing years to building careers.
'Covering egg freezing can be viewed as a type of payback for women s commitment,' the report quoted fertility specialist in San Francisco Philip Chenette as saying. The report said that while techniques and success rates are improving, there is no guarantee that medical procedure would lead to a baby in future. 'For many women, taking the step to boost their chances of having kids in the future is worth the uncertainty,' it said.
On the flip side, egg-freezing coverage could be viewed as a ploy to entice women to 'sell their souls to their employer, sacrificing childbearing years for the promise of promotion,' the report added.
What is egg freezing?
Egg freezing simply means to extract healthy eggs from the ovary of a woman and freeze them for future use. Often it is believed that a woman s biological clock stops ticking in her late 30s to early 40s. Despite the fact, we see a trend of today s emancipated woman attempting pregnancy late in the day. This attitude poses a major challenge in achieving healthy pregnancies. Fortunately with the advent of the novel technology of egg freezing, women have the unprecedented chance to start or expand her family even after the fragile age of 35, says Dr Nandita Palshetkar, gynecologist and IVF specialist attached to Lilavati hospital, Mumbai and D Y Patil Hospital, Navi Mumbai. This technique helps women to slow down their biological clock and store their eggs until they are ready for conception. Though one can t stop the age clock but freezing the eggs at a younger age gives you a chance to embrace motherhood when she decides.
How is it done?
Even though it sounds simple but it isn t as easy as putting your leftovers into the freezer. Opting for egg freezing means that you would have to undergo a medical process in the hospital or a clinic, Eggs are removed surgically and then frozen either by cooling down slowly or by vitrification, informs Dr Palshetkar. Recent studies have shown that eggs frozen by the vitrification or fast freezing process increases the success rates of conceiving. This is because in the freeze-thaw process of vitrification the eggs stand to have a comparatively higher chance of survival. (Read more about Egg freezing: A chance to delay pregnancy till you are ready for it )
With inputs from PTI
Image source: Getty Images
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