By John Arthur 
The modern world dictates new rules of the game, where career ambitions and personal life often come into sharp conflict. The story of 34-year-old Marion, a highly qualified HR specialist at a large international corporation, is a textbook example of what an impressive professional career looks like today. The last six years of her life have been inextricably linked to the company’s offices in Warsaw and Vienna, and in the near future she will face a new professional challenge—managing the human resources department in Singapore.
Marion comes from the cozy French town of Tours, but the whole world has long been her true home. Her employer highly values her for her impeccable professionalism and unique international experience. Marion herself values her company for the drive, dynamism, and ambitious goals it sets for her. However, such a rapid rise up the career ladder comes at a certain price: constant mobility and frequent relocations become a serious obstacle to forming deep, long-term relationships.
“With my lifestyle, it’s extremely difficult to find a partner who would be willing to drop everything and follow me to another country,” Marion shares her thoughts. “But at the same time, I can’t afford to stop and give up my career at the very moment when it is at its peak.”
Marion takes a sober view of the future: she admits that in a few years she may want to slow down and shift her focus to her personal life, but she is determined not to delay the question of motherhood. “I am well aware that for me, full personal development is inextricably linked to having a child,” she admits. “At the same time, I objectively understand that in five or seven years, it will be much more difficult to achieve this biologically.”
For women in Marion’s situation, modern medicine offers an innovative solution: deferred motherhood technology. The essence of this technique is the cryopreservation freezing of eggs at a time when their biological quality is at its optimal level — as a rule, this threshold is 37 years. The biomaterial obtained is safely stored in specialized reproductive medicine clinics until the woman makes an informed decision to become a mother. If she has not found a suitable partner by that time, modern law and medicine provide her with the opportunity to use the services of a sperm bank for artificial insemination.
A more reliable and statistically stable option is considered to be embryo freezing. In this scenario, the egg is fertilized in advance and stored in liquid nitrogen. It has been scientifically proven that the embryo retains its full viability for subsequent transfer to the uterus for at least 20 years. This gives a woman a much higher chance of successfully carrying and giving birth to a healthy child in the distant future. Marion has already begun consulting with leading clinics and plans to finalize her decision before flying to Singapore.
A decade ago, such medical decisions were perceived as revolutionary and even radical, not only in Europe but also in the US. Today, late motherhood has become a mass phenomenon and is perceived in developed countries as a completely natural choice for a free woman. Sociologists are recording fundamental changes in the behavior of young people: female university graduates no longer consider immediate marriage to be their primary goal.
“Modern young women are focused on self-realization, building a career, and personal growth. They prefer to invest time and resources in their professional development,“ comments a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology.
What is really behind the decision to ”put on hold” having children for five or even ten years? Most often, the catalyst is fierce social and professional competition. An ambitious woman tells herself: “One more push and I’ll be CEO,” “a couple more years and my project will enter global markets.” In this sense, women are adopting the traditionally male model of success, striving to become the main source of income, a leader who commands the respect and admiration of those around them. Complete financial independence gives them a feeling of eternal youth and inexhaustible energy. They sincerely believe that by starting a family later, they will be able to apply their management and planning skills to achieve success in this area as well.
However, this “business approach” to childbearing is causing serious debate among experts. Officials, in particular representatives of the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity, express a certain skepticism: “A child is a living person, not an item in a long-term business plan. It is important to remember that artificial insemination technologies were originally created to help couples suffering from infertility, not as a tool for endlessly postponing motherhood “until better times.” Nevertheless, the realities of post-industrial society dictate their own terms, and for many businesswomen, this strategy seems to be the only correct one.
When considering motherhood as part of a global life strategy, the associated risks cannot be ignored. Experts identify three most likely and complex scenarios.
A woman crosses the threshold of 35. She has achieved financial stability and independence, but has not yet met the man with whom she would like to share her life. Her personal relationships remain short-lived, and her maternal instinct becomes increasingly pronounced. In this situation, the logical solution seems to be to use IVF with sperm donation.
However, there is a psychological trap here. Let’s imagine that a couple of years after the birth of her child, she meets the man of her dreams, who is ready to start a family. But the clinic still has frozen embryos from an anonymous donor. How will her new partner react? Will the woman herself want to follow the previously “planned” scenario if her life circumstances have changed dramatically?
Choosing to freeze only eggs (rather than embryos) allows the choice of the child’s father to be postponed until later, but requires an extremely honest assessment of the risks. Reproductive specialists often compare this to venture capital investments: the potential return is huge, but there are no guarantees.
“Even with the most advanced IVF technologies, success is not guaranteed for every woman,” experts warn. Biological material inevitably loses some of its quality during storage and thawing. Of ten frozen eggs, only 40-60% are suitable for fertilization after several years. And no one can give a 100% prediction of how many of them will turn into viable embryos.”
Sometimes a woman is in a stable relationship, and her partner fully supports the idea of focusing on her career and postponing having children until the future. However, even a written contract does not guarantee that feelings will remain the same. As in business, “bankruptcies” and breakups happen in personal life. What seems like an unbreakable union today may turn into a separation tomorrow. In this case, joint plans for a child are instantly canceled, and medical technology is powerless in the face of the human factor.
Let’s assume that all obstacles have been overcome and the “planned” child has finally been born. Late motherhood has its undeniable advantages. Psychologists note that a woman who becomes a mother at 45 brings a wealth of life wisdom, a stable value system, and significant material resources to the experience. Her personality is already fully formed, she is psychologically stable and able to convey much more calmness and experience to her child than a young 20-year-old mother.
But there is also a flip side to the coin. The huge age gap of 40 or 50 years creates certain difficulties. “Sometimes there is a generation gap between mother and child, with its unique cultural codes, habits, and language. Even if a woman leads an active lifestyle and tries to be ‘on the same wavelength’ as young people, a conflict of worldviews at a deep level is almost inevitable,” experts emphasize.
In 2023, researchers at Yale University presented data showing that in the US, the number of women who decided to have their first child after the age of 40 has doubled in the last five years. Nevertheless, it is important to remain realistic: given that clinics guarantee success in only 50-60% of cases, delayed motherhood remains one of the most risky and unpredictable life projects for any ambitious woman.
❓ At what age is it best to consider freezing eggs? Medical experts agree that the most favorable window of opportunity is between the ages of 35 and 37. It is during this period that the biological quality and genetic health of eggs remain at an optimal level, which minimizes the risk of pathologies during future fertilization.
❓ Which method is considered more reliable: cryopreservation of eggs or embryos? Based on clinical statistics, embryo freezing demonstrates higher survival rates for biomaterial. Embryos tolerate the freezing and thawing processes better, which ultimately gives a woman a better chance of a successful pregnancy.
❓ Can I take advantage of the deferred motherhood program if I don’t have a permanent partner? Absolutely. Modern reproductive medicine clinics provide their patients with access to extensive and certified sperm donor databases. You can select a donor based on a number of criteria (appearance, education, blood type) for the IVF procedure.
❓ What is the actual storage period for biomaterial in a clinic without loss of its properties? The timeframes may vary depending on the clinic and the legislation of the specific country. On average, eggs can be stored without loss of quality for 10-15 years. Embryos, thanks to their structure, can remain viable in cryopreservation conditions for 20 years or more, provided that all technical storage protocols are strictly followed.
Siam 
Deedar Hussain