Egg Freezing

The Austrian Constitutional Court has now declared a law illegal that forbade egg freezing, also called social freezing, unless for a given medical indication. That's a great step into modernity in this Catholic, conservative country.

Egg freezing is a technique that allows to save female ova for future use. Women are most reproductive in their 20s. At age 40, the ova are often already no longer suited for reproduction. By extracting an ovum at age 20 and re-inserting it at later age, chances are increased that conception happens. Thus women can focus on their education and career, and once they have reached their professional goals, they can still become mothers in later life.

Austria was one of the few countries in which egg freezing used to be banned except for some special conditions. Now the Austrian parliament has time until 2027 to come up with a new legislation. Meanwhile it will be possible to use egg freezing.

Austria is also one of the countries in which germ-line therapy is illegal. I once had a phone conversation with the Chancellor of Austria, as I wanted to persuade him to legalize germ-line therapy. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. In Austria, all five major political parties have made an agreement that they would not vote for legalization of germ-line therapy.

Claus D. Volko 

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