Female lawmakers hit out at ‘soil and seeds’ analogy by health chief on eggs freezing

Female lawmakers on Thursday criticized health minister Lo Chung-mau for calling on women to have kids while they are young, as Lo responded that the government policy is to help medically-troubled couples get pregnant through assisted reproducton technologies but not to delay pregnancy. 

The debate came during the Legislative Council meeting on Thursday as the lawmakers vetted the motion on policies on supporting assisted reproduction tabled by Nixie Lam Lam, proposing to extend the allowed freezing period of eggs from 10 to 30 years. 

Lam reacted to Lo’s calling emotionally and said many people are ashamed of themselves for not being able to have a baby. She also noted that Lo’s statement has a huge impact on women in perfect health, challenging that how 18-year-olds can have kids while studying. 

She mentioned that it is a general phenomenon that many professional women only find out they are at an advanced maternal age after further studying and establishing a career for themselves. She added that getting married at an older age is a realistic issue in Hong Kong. 

Therefore, she would “roll her eyes” every time she hears an official urging women to have kids at a young age, she said. 

This came as Lo earlier said the government encourages married couples to have babies at a younger age to boost the success rate. Lo also described women and their eggs as “soil” and “seeds” as he pointed out that freezing the eggs cannot reverse the biological restrictions on women’s maternal age. 

“The ‘seeds’ will be preserved but the ‘soil’ has changed according to their increasing age,” Lo said. 

Lam recalled her own experience that she got married at 36 and had had three miscarriages before. She added she was very lucky since she got pregnant on her first attempt through assisted reproduction and she once heard someone only succeeded after 11 attempts. 

She also challenged why the government doesn’t give more room for women to choose for themselves, saying that medically speaking there isn’t a 10-year expiry period for the frozen eggs. 

New People’s Party chairwoman Regina Ip Suk-yee also echoed Lam and blasted Lo’s calling an irony to female professionals as she gave her personal testimony that she had her first baby at 39 through assisted reproduction. 

Lo replied that the government policy on assisted reproduction is to help couples who face medical difficulties get pregnant. When formulating policies to support assisted reproduction, the government also has to consider if the policies would delay people’s decision to have kids. 

He stressed that getting married and pregnant at a young age isn’t a medical issue and he will discuss with Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen to see if there can be more work to arrange and help young people find their other half. 

“No matter my family or friends I recommend that young people must plan their life well, especially family-wise so that they won’t regret. Having kids is a grace from the heaven and will greatly impact our lives,” he also said.