More women in the UK than ever before are considering freezing their eggs, with the sharp rise in inquiries at some of London’s largest clinics attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. No wonder perhaps, since social restrictions have impacted single people wishing to couple-up, making it significantly more difficult to go on dates or meet potential partners.
The current prolonged uncertainty about the future has exacerbated the concerns that many single childless women – especially those in their mid-30s – were already reporting, including anxieties about the ticking of their biological clocks and fears over age-related fertility decline.
Sarah, a 36-year-old HR manager who recently came out of a four-year relationship, feels the pandemic could not have come at a more costly time in her personal life. She told me: “I have this constant underlying worry that by the time this all blows over and I can finally meet someone, I might have missed the boat to become a mother.”