Social egg freezing: Singapore follows South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia in allowing procedure as birth rate stagnates

From next year, the city state will start allowing single women aged 21 to 35 to freeze their eggs – as other countries in Asia have been doing for years now

But high prices for the procedure, and strict rules on who can have their frozen eggs fertilised, mean the change is unlikely to reverse falling fertility rates

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Staff at a fertility clinic in Kuala Lumpur demonstrate part of the procedure for freezing eggs. Photo: AFP

Kok Xinghui,David D. Lee,Ushar DanieleandVijitra Duangdee

Published: 9:00am, 16 Apr 2022Updated: 12:03am, 2 May 2023

Singapore is often seen as a bellwether of policy direction in Asia, offering clues on the best practices for regulating everything from cryptocurrency and healthcare to public transport.

But until recently, it was lagging behind its neighbours in one glaring aspect: allowing healthy, single women to freeze their eggs.

The island nation has for years sought to boost its dismal birth rate, which at 1.12 babies per woman last year ranked among the lowest in the world. The global average is 2.3. Authorities have used various policy levers to encourage couples to have children, including offering “Baby Bonus” cash incentives.

A woman pushes her baby in a stroller past the rain vortex at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore. The island nation’s birth rate is among the lowest in the world. Photo: AFP

But the government had until now only allowed women with medical conditions – such as those who need to undergo chemotherapy – freeze their eggs.

This puts the city state well behind other societies in the region. Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan all allow single women to freeze their eggs in a bid to prolong fertility and boost birth rates. The city of Urayasu, in Japan’s Chiba prefecture, even subsidises the cost.

From next year, however, under a broad review of women’s development – that includes provisions for more equal opportunities in the workplace and greater recognition of carers – Singapore’s government has said it will allow single women aged 21 to 35 to freeze their eggs.

“We recognise that some women desire to preserve fertility because of their personal circumstances, for example, those who are not able to find a partner while they are younger, but wish to have the chance of conceiving if they marry later,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s administration said in a white paper that was released in March and approved by parliament on April 5.