Main description:

This edited volume covers the development of egg freezing over the last few decades since the pioneering work of Chen in 1986, addressing both the scientific breakthroughs that have occurred and the social and demographic changes that are currently driving an increased demand for 'social' egg freezing and a recognition of the important role of 'medical' egg freezing for women facing potentially sterilizing oncology therapy. It presents the latest research in egg vitrification, methodologies for optimizing laboratory performance and contemporary clinical management of patients seeking oocyte cryopreservation. Audited international data on access, take-up, use and birth outcomes for women undertaking egg freezing are included. The book also discusses the ethical issues related to access and funding and considers how different legal jurisdictions have approached matters such as storage duration, ownership, donation, anonymity and identification. Such wide-ranging contents will bridge the gap between the highly technical laboratory handbooks and the 'popular' tabloid accounts directed at young women considering egg freezing. Drawing on the different approaches to fertility preservation prevailing around the world, with chapters written by leading international experts and edited by Gillian Lockwood, a pioneer of the field whose clinic produced the UK's first 'frozen egg' baby in 2002, Egg Freezing in the 21st Century will have an authoritative and global appeal, and may hopefully encourage a change of attitude in some jurisdictions.