'This is our body and our choice': Actress Ase Wang pushes for government to lift social egg freezing ban

In 2017, Singaporean actress Ase Wang, was told by doctors that she'll face difficulties trying to conceive naturally. She had low reserves of eggs, they said.

So in the following year she decided to freeze of her eggs, even though social egg freezing isn't allowed in Singapore.

The actress shared a clip of her recent CNA interview with Cheng Li Hui, Member of Parliament, where they spoke about Singapore's ban on social egg freezing.

"Egg freezing is not a very cheap procedure," says Ase Wang

In her interview, Ase Wang shared that she froze her eggs in 2018 when she was still single. She wanted to focus on her career and had not met her "Mr Right" yet.

She realised that she didn't want to wait around for the right time and the right man to arrive in her life. Which is why she decided to take charge and reminded herself, "If I want something, I can surely find a way to do it."

Thus, started the process.

The actress took consultations with doctors and following their prognosis, she underwent three cycles of egg freezing in Bangkok and froze 17 of her eggs.

While she said she could afford this procedure, she noted that this wasn't a cheap one. "It doesn't hurt, but what hurts is your bank account," said the actress.

Women avail the facility from neighbouring nations

As most are aware, egg freezing for the purpose of preserving fertility and delayed childbearing is not allowed in the country. Singapore permits women to freeze their eggs for medical purposes only.

For instance, if a woman is undergoing chemotherapy, she can then freeze her eggs to protect them from its harmful effects.

The current ban on social egg freezing also means that the country doesn't have an egg bank. So older women or those with poor egg count or quality have to source donor eggs from overseas.

In this interview, Cheng Li Hui noted that despite being considered a medical hub Singapore doesn't allow this facility. So women are left with no other option, but to avail it from the neighbouring countries, where it is readily available.

Also, due to this ban in the country, some women here did not have the option of freezing their own eggs when they were younger. Thus, leaving many of them with no choice but to resort to egg donation to conceive a child via IVF.

Pandemic made it difficult for women to opt for the procedure 

During the pandemic, women who wanted to opt for egg freezing went through extreme difficulties and pain.

The MP highlighted that not only those who wanted to freeze, but even those who already froze their eggs or embryo in neighbouring countries experienced difficulties in retrieving them.

Some even lost their eggs in transit to Singapore because the temperature couldn't be maintained.

"Keeping in mind all these problems, we actually need to make it easier for them," stressed Cheng Li Hui.

Inspite of egg freezing being considered a social taboo in her country, Ase Wang had the support of her family, who stood by her decision.

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Ase Wang hopes the ban to be lifted this time around 

In her interview the actress also added that she hoped that the ban on social egg freezing will be lifted this time and the government would pay heed to it.

"The world is of the impression that Singapore is a very cosmopolitan country. This is our body and our choice and we need the government to support us to make this happen" said Ase Wang.

It is equally encouraging to see how women of Parliament, including Cheng Li Hu, are pushing for this ban to be lifted!

On the personal front, the actress last year conceived via IVF on the first try. Also, she ended up not using any of the eggs that she had frozen back in 2018.

This article was first published in theAsianparent.