[Mound Media]
[Mound Media]

Soyou, a singer best known as a member of the girl group Sistar, has revealed that she once considered freezing her eggs but gave up because of a fear of needles — and her candid admission has sparked renewed public interest in the procedure. As more women delay marriage and childbirth, egg freezing is drawing growing attention, but experts caution that it does not guarantee future pregnancy and that decisions should be made after a thorough assessment of age, egg count and ovarian function.

On Monday, Soyou posted a video to her YouTube channel "Soyugi" in which she shared her thoughts on dating, marriage and having children. In the video, she said that until her early 20s her ultimate goal in life had been to become a mother, and that building a happy family and having children had been a personal ambition separate from her success as a singer.

Soyou said she had planned to freeze her eggs around the age of 30. "I thought I should get my body really healthy and freeze good-quality eggs," she said, adding that she had looked into the procedure and its costs by asking people around her. But when she learned during consultations that the process required daily injections in the abdomen, her fear of needles led her to abandon the idea.

Egg freezing involves retrieving eggs from a woman's ovaries, freezing them for storage, and later thawing them for use in in vitro fertilization when she wishes to become pregnant. Medically, the procedure is known as oocyte cryopreservation. It is an option not only for women facing treatments — such as cancer therapy or ovarian surgery — that are expected to reduce fertility, but also for those who wish to delay marriage or childbirth. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) notes that egg freezing allows women to choose a sperm donor at a later stage and to decide for themselves whether to use the frozen eggs.

The process typically begins with a consultation and testing. Blood tests check hormone levels, and an ultrasound evaluates the number of follicles in the ovaries. The widely known AMH test helps estimate the quantity of follicles remaining in the ovaries, but it is not on its own a reliable indicator of egg quality or future pregnancy potential. The ASRM notes that while AMH and follicle-count tests are useful for predicting the number of eggs retrieved and ovarian response, they have limitations in predicting qualitative outcomes.

Testing is followed by ovarian stimulation. To obtain multiple eggs — where normally only about one matures per month — the patient receives hormone injections over roughly 10 days to two weeks. During this period, she visits the clinic multiple times for ultrasounds and blood tests to monitor follicle growth, and receives a trigger injection to induce ovulation as the retrieval date approaches. The Cleveland Clinic notes that the egg freezing process, from hormonal stimulation to egg retrieval, generally takes place within a few weeks.

The daily abdominal injections Soyou mentioned are precisely this ovarian stimulation phase. The injections are typically administered subcutaneously in the abdomen, and patients often self-administer them after receiving instruction from clinic staff. Women who have a strong fear of needles or find self-injection difficult can ask their medical team for repeated injection training, seek help from a caregiver, or discuss the option of receiving injections at the clinic where possible. Even so, the burden of injections remains one of the most significant barriers women report when considering egg freezing.

Once the follicles have grown sufficiently, egg retrieval takes place. The procedure uses a thin needle guided by transvaginal ultrasound to aspirate follicular fluid and collect the eggs. Sedation or anesthesia is commonly used to reduce pain and anxiety. The retrieved eggs are assessed for maturity and then preserved using vitrification, a rapid-freezing method that minimizes ice crystal formation and is now widely used for freezing both eggs and embryos.

Age is the most critical variable in egg freezing. Women are born with a finite supply of eggs, and both the quantity and quality of those eggs decline with age. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) explains that fertility decreases with age as the number of follicles in the ovaries naturally diminishes. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) also notes that a woman's age at the time of egg retrieval is an important predictor of IVF outcomes.

Having more frozen eggs does increase the chances of a future pregnancy attempt, but a larger number of eggs does not guarantee pregnancy or a live birth. After thawing, eggs must survive multiple stages — fertilization, embryo development, implantation and sustained pregnancy. ASRM patient education materials state clearly that egg freezing does not guarantee future pregnancy or childbirth. The likelihood of success is influenced by the woman's age at the time of freezing and the number of eggs stored.

The idea of getting one's body into better shape to produce "good eggs" does carry some merit. Smoking, heavy drinking, sleep deprivation and extreme weight fluctuations can all negatively affect reproductive health. However, lifestyle management alone cannot reverse age-related egg decline. For women considering egg freezing, experts say it is more practical to consult an OB-GYN or fertility specialist to assess current ovarian function, the expected number of eggs retrievable and the number of cycles likely needed — rather than waiting to get healthier and delaying the decision.

Side effects are also a consideration. During ovarian stimulation, women may experience bloating, lower abdominal discomfort, headaches, mood changes and breast tenderness. If the ovaries respond too strongly, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome can develop; in severe cases, this may cause ascites, rapid weight gain and difficulty breathing, requiring medical attention. During egg retrieval, rare complications such as bleeding, infection and ovarian torsion can occur. The Mayo Clinic notes that complications including infection, ovarian torsion and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome may need to be monitored following egg retrieval.

Cost and storage are additional factors to consider. Egg freezing involves expenses beyond a single retrieval — testing, medications, the retrieval itself, freezing and ongoing storage fees can all be charged separately. If a single cycle does not yield the desired number of eggs, multiple cycles may be necessary. Women should also clarify in advance the storage duration, procedures for disposal or extension, and the future costs of thawing and IVF.

Egg freezing is not a procedure every woman needs. Those who plan to become pregnant in the near term, have adequate ovarian function or do not feel a personal need for it are under no pressure to decide quickly. On the other hand, women facing chemotherapy or ovarian surgery, or those who must delay pregnancy for a significant period, may want to seek a consultation to preserve their fertility. The ASRM identifies egg or embryo cryopreservation as an important option for women whose fertility is expected to decline as a result of medical treatment.

Experts emphasize that egg freezing should be understood as a form of insurance — not a guaranteed ticket to parenthood. Freezing eggs at a younger age is advantageous, and storing more eggs improves the odds, but many medical variables remain between freezing and a live birth. When deciding whether to proceed, experts say women should weigh not just cost or trends, but their own life plans, health status, ovarian function, tolerance for the injection and retrieval process, and future pregnancy goals.


rainbow@heraldcorp.com