I’m Pisces, Single, and The Only Thing In my Freezer is Vodka: Facts on Egg Freezing

Anyone who follows The Zodiac knows that as a true Piscean, I am sensitive, intuitive, a little unorganized, sensual, deeply romantic and… due for another freakin’ birthday.

Yes, it is that time of year. Another birthday. Gone are the days where I used to shout the number from the rooftops, throw a huge party with my age posted on all the balloons, and make sure that I had the exact number of candles on top of my cake.

Now I just try to make a quick break out of town, jet off to my favorite city for forgetting—Las Vegas—and hope that the weekend will be remembered for some ridiculous antics instead of the fact that I am turning a year older.

Like last year when my mother got in trouble by hotel security for helping herself to a baked good from a closed store at 4 am. right in front of a security officer.. “What are you gonna do?” she asked. “Arrest me for a scone?”

Stubborn Taurus.

Both signs must be into not acting their age.

It’s not that I mind turning a year older, really. I actually feel that as I have gotten older, I have gotten wiser, less tolerant of things (i.e. men) that don’t serve my best interests. Plus I now know the importance of a supportive bra and an expensive hair dryer.

Life is great.

It’s the response from others when they find out my age plus:

•  I am single
• I have no prospective permanent man in my life
• I am showing no anxiety about it

That’s when the elephant comes charging into the room to squash my c’est la vie attitude on aging.

And for the past few years their plate of judgement comes with a side of the new media-surged question, “Are you going to freeze your eggs?”

Nope, the only thing in my freezer is Grey Goose.

Eggs in A Basket

It’s a tough question and a personal answer. But these are the facts for other girls out there old enough to know better but still too fun-loving to care:

•  We are all born with about one to two million eggs

We jump down to about three to five hundred thousand eggs at puberty, we have about twenty five thousand at the age of thirty-seven, and we are left at only about one thousand by the age of fifty-one, which is the average age of menopause, when the shop completely closes. It is already difficult to get pregnant way before that happens. The ability to conceive starts to slowly decrease at the age of thirty-two and decreases more rapidly at the age of thirty seven.

•  The magic age that we start to really think “you better hurry the hell up” is thirty-five.

This is the age that is also considered to be advanced maternal age. I know, such a nice label. I always love calling a patient that to her face.

•  At thirty five, the egg number doesn’t only keep decreasing but also the quality of the egg starts to decrease.

This means that there is an increased chance for miscarriage as well as other chromosomal problems with the pregnancy such as Down’s syndrome.

•  Egg freezing attempts to remove some eggs before these things start happening, freezes them so that you can thaw, mix with some sperm and put back inside of you later in life.

The process does have its own risks and side effects. It’s not like you pop in, they pop them out and throw them in an ice bucket and you are on your way. You first got to get pumped up with hormones and undergo a minor surgical procedure to extract them.

•  The American College of OB GYN is not recommending it for women who are just afraid of getting too old.

It does recommend it for women that have an illness such as cancer and that therefore need to delay childbearing or may have damage to their ovaries due to other treatments and want to save their eggs first.

Is it an option, however? Yes. And if you have more questions, ask an REI or Reproductive Endocrinology Infertility specialist in your area on their specific process. For me…I am taking my chances in two weeks at the blackjack table and in life on falling in love and being in a healthy relationship first. Then I will figure out how and when to bring another human into the equation.

For now, I will be conscious of the facts, but I won’t let them force me into a decision out of fear alone.

Maybe I am being a lofty dreamer or a hopeless romantic, but what can I say, I’m a Pisces. Who is just pouring herself another glass, taking a swig, and continuing to swim up stream.