Public broadcaster NHK aired a current affairs program on fertility in 2012 that caused a stir nationwide. Titled "The Impact of Aging Eggs," the program warned viewers that women in their 30s and 40s were flirting with disappointment by delaying any attempt to conceive until they are older.
The problem, however, is that many women in modern times simply aren't ready to have children in their 20s and early 30s, ages that fertility experts usually say is the best time for a woman to conceive. Many women in this age group are still in the early stages of their career, while a significant proportion are also likely to be looking to wait a while before settling down into married life.
To get around this conundrum, some doctors in Japan have recently begun to offer oocyte cryopreservation, a procedure in which a woman's eggs are frozen cryogenically. The procedure was historically only offered in Japan to women suffering from severe health problems.
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