Along with a beautiful baby girl, former Miss World Diana Hayden has delivered possibly the perfect solution to Indian women battling the biological clock.
The child was born of an egg that Hayden had frozen eight years ago, according to a Times of India report.
Hayden, who is now 42, read about egg freezing a decade ago in 2005, and decided to give it a shot. She froze 16 eggs – a process that took her five months – with an infertility specialist. In doing so, she joined the line of Indian women that is slowly increasing to opt for this procedure for lifestyle reasons, not medical.
“A career woman need not think about her biological clock, and get pressurised into getting married earlier than she wants or have a baby when she isn’t ready,” said Hayden in an interview with ToI, while still ensconced in her hospital suite at Surya Mother and Child Hospital in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. “I froze my eggs for two reasons: I was busy with my career at that time and, more important, I was very clear that I was going to wait to fall in love and marry before having a baby."
This back-up plan worked beautifully for Hayden, who was diagnosed with endometriosis (a medical condition that deterred her from having children) after she was married two years ago to beau Collin Dick. The couple decided to test Hayden’s eggs, and were able to produce baby girl Arya who has been pronounced in perfect health by doctors: “Hayden’s daughter weighed 3.7kg, and was 55cm long. The average weight and length in India re 2.6kg, and 48cm,” said a paediatrician quoted in the report.
Egg freezing is a process that takes two-four weeks from injecting hormones to stimulate ovulation, egg retrieval and preservation at minus 196 degrees celsius to future use.
Approximately ten years ago the process of vitrification or fast freezing made its way to country, helping speed the process. However, it is still a procedure that is shrouded in speculation about success rates and costs. A noted hospital in India even has a disclaimer on its website, saying this:
Egg freezing might be appealing if you're concerned about age-related infertility, but the method isn't recommended for this purpose due to the risks, costs and limited success rates.
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