Demand for egg freezing in Taiwan has surged despite current laws which mandates that women can only use them if they are in a heterosexual marriage
Reporting by Angie Teo and Ann WangSeated with her legs stretched out on her living room floor, Vivian Tung scrunched her bare stomach to find a spot where she could inject Rekovelle, a hormonal medicine used to stimulate egg production.
“It’s my insurance policy,” she said, explaining that many women in Taiwan are independent, career-focused and not looking to solely find a husband just to have children. Self-ruled Taiwan has a fertility rate of 0.89 children per woman, less than half the replacement level of 2.1 and one of the world's lowest just behind South Korea and Hong Kong.
Before her surgery, Tung had to visit the hospital every two to three days for blood tests to check her hormone levels to see how the eggs were developing, often at irregular times like 9 p.m. due to her work schedule.Embryologists work on creating viable embryos to be either used in an in vitro fertilization transfer or frozen for later use in a laboratory at the Stork Fertility Clinic in Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 16, 2023.
But only about 4% of children in Taiwan are born out of wedlock, compared with about 40% in the U.S. where it is more accepted. Taiwan plans a comprehensive evaluation before deciding whether to expand access to artificial reproduction given it is a complex ethical, medical and legal issue involving many stakeholders, said Chen Li-Chuan, a policy specialist at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The frenzy comes as two local governments, Hsinchu and Taoyuan, this year started subsidising egg freezing. However, only a combined 1,400 spots are available annually and an average annual salary of less than $19,000 means egg freezing is out of reach for many women. Tung paid herself, but her supportive parents drove her to the hospital on the morning of the surgery, where she pulled out her laptop in the back seat to finish some last-minute work.
Tung rests in a room after her egg retrieval surgery at the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang Tung takes painkillers after her egg retrieval surgery, at home in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang Tung finishes some last-minute work on her computer Johnny Tung and Racheal drive her to her egg retrieval surgery at the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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