Rita Ora has revealed that she had her eggs frozen in her early 20s.
Appearing on the Australian breakfast TV show Sunrise, the British singer said her family doctor recommended undergoing the procedure sooner rather than later.
“You’re healthiest now and I think it would be great, why don’t you put them away now and you’ll never have to worry about it again?” Ora, 26, said he had told her.
She said she always wanted a big family and had been thinking about children since her early 20s. Ora said she realised she was still young but explained she was a “big believer in using what we have and making the most of it”.
Medical experts agree the procedure is most effective if carried out while still young.
Dr Helen O’Neill of University College London explained that once women reach 30, the quality of their eggs declines rapidly.
“Unfortunately, the prime age people start to freeze their eggs is 35, which is a little bit too late,” she told the BBC.
“The benefits of [egg freezing] are that you are taking your fertility into your own hands. If you’re checked and you have a low fertility, it’s best to act early.”
However, at a cost of £5,000 per cycle, the fertility procedure remains out of reach for most young people. Egg preservation is not available on the NHS, except in some cases where patients are undergoing medical treatment that could affect their fertility.
O’Neill added that the procedure is not an “absolute guarantee” for pregnancy regardless of age. Still, she said current egg-freezing technology was excellent and should be promoted more.
Ora said some people might see her as a hypochondriac for freezing her eggs unusually early, but said she “just wanted to be really safe”.
