Karishma Mehta, the CEO of Humans of Bombay, has revealed that she opted for egg freezing, because she wanted the option of having children in the future without the burden of a ticking biological clock.
In a candid conversation with actress Shefali Shah, the entrepreneur shared her reasons for taking this step at the age of 32. “I may or may not want kids, but I wanted insurance,” she said.
“It is a hard process—2–3 weeks of hormones and injections—but this weight is kind of taken off my shoulders because I no longer have to worry that I will be 35 and might not be able to conceive,” she added.
In a LinkedIn post, Ms Mehta further talked about the societal pressure women face with respect to motherhood. She wrote, "How often do we, as women, find ourselves being asked about our biological clock ticking? The pressure is real, and for years, I let that societal expectation weigh on me."
Karishma Mehta said that freezing her eggs was a step toward "taking control of her future". She added, "But then, I made a decision that felt right for me: I chose to freeze my eggs, a step towards taking control of my own future, without the looming rush of time. In my latest podcast episode with the incredible Shefali Shah, I opened up about this journey."
Ms Mehta previously talked about freezing her eggs in an Instagram post. Sharing glimpses of her life, the entrepreneur wrote, "Been meaning to do this for a while and finally got around to it. I froze my eggs at the beginning of the month."
What is egg freezing?
Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, is a process in which a woman's eggs are extracted, frozen, and stored for future use, according to UCLA Health. This method helps preserve fertility for women who may want to delay having children, either for personal or medical reasons.
Egg freezing involves checking a woman's egg supply with blood tests and ultrasounds. Then, hormonal medications are used to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. The mature eggs are collected through a simple procedure and frozen quickly using a technique called vitrification. This allows the eggs to be stored for future use.
