Dutch MPs vote to allow women to freeze oocytes to delay parenthood

Women in the Netherlands will be allowed to have their egg cells frozen for later use in in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment on social not just medical grounds, ending three years of controversy.

Despite opposition from three Christian parties, most MPs have accepted that there is no reason to ban the treatment for women up to the age of 45 who may wish to delay pregnancy because they are single or don’t want to take a career break.

Recently the IVF clinic at Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Centre announced that it was to begin offering the treatment on social grounds, reigniting the issue. Its professor of …