Upasana Konidela reacts to backlash over her egg freezing for career-oriented women as a ‘choice’ comment: ‘Happy to spark debate’; experts weigh in | Health News

Recall that in her tackle, Konidela, who’s married to actor Ramcharan, mentioned, “The most important insurance coverage for women is to freeze their eggs. As a result of then you possibly can select when to get married, if you wish to have children, by yourself phrases, when you find yourself financially unbiased.”

I actually had a tremendous time interacting with the scholars at @IITHyderabad
After I requested, “What number of of you wish to get married?” — extra males raised their palms, than the ladies!
The ladies appeared much more career-focused !!!!
That is the brand new – Progressive India. 🇮🇳

Set your imaginative and prescient.… pic.twitter.com/6HzlLjSMvX

— Upasana Konidela (@upasanakonidela) November 17, 2025

She additionally famous that “extra males raised their palms than ladies when requested about curiosity in marriage“. “The ladies appeared much more career-focused. That is the brand new – progressive India,” she mentioned.

Within the newest word, she additionally detailed how it’s a private “reality test” contemplating she married early however selected motherhood a lot later.

Right here’s what it is best to contemplate (Picture: Freepik)

“I married for love and companionship at 27 – a alternative I made by myself phrases. At 29, I made a decision to freeze my eggs for private and well being causes. I welcomed my first baby at 36 and am now anticipating twins at 39. For me, marriage and profession will not be competing priorities — they’re equally significant elements of a fulfilled life. However I resolve the timeline! That’s not privilege, it’s my proper (sic)!”

Whereas some praised her for voicing these factors, many others criticised the financial and bodily challenges related to egg freezing.

“Glad to see somebody overtly addressing these matters with out sugarcoating. Your selections, your timeline, that’s the way it must be for everybody. Thanks for utilizing your voice to push a more healthy dialog round profession, marriage, and girls’s selections,” one wrote.

One other mentioned that her feedback have been misconstrued. “What @upasanakonidela mentioned:

‘Freeze your eggs at peak fertility’ for
– self safety
– protects one’s lack of ability to conceive naturally
– monetary freedom
– societal pressures

What individuals take out of context
– Marry late
– Profession above something
– Freeze your eggs at Apollo”.

A consumer additionally remarked how @upasanakonidela’s remark is “not about proper or fallacious”. “However you’re inspiring younger individuals to see IVF and egg-freezing as the perfect path, and that’s not honest. These procedures value lakhs, and never everybody has the monetary consolation you’ve. For a lot of ladies, these will not be choices.”

Including to the talk, Dr Sumeet Seth, Director – Metabolic & Bariatric Surgical procedure, PSRI Hospital, wrote on X that IVF has a 30-50% success charge, and it goes down with growing age. At 40 years, the success charge is simply ~ 20 %. He referred to as it a “disservice” to advocate for egg freezing as a “alternative for all times”.

“> 2/third of {couples} could not succeed regardless of a number of cycles. Every cycle prices about 2 – 3 Lakh? The price of Egg Freezing (Oocyte Preservation) could be round 2 – 2.5 L. There’s a important value of medicine, checks, monitoring, egg retrieval, freezing and storage. Some Clinics could cost 25 – 50 Ok/ yr for storage. When these eggs are for use there’s a additional cost of 75 Ok – 1.5 L for thawing, fertilisation and ICSI (if wanted) for changing Eggs to Embryo. Now add to this the unwanted effects of hormonal therapy, emotional and bodily trauma, whose value can’t be calculated! It’s nice that these therapies can be found for {couples} who really want them for medical causes, however promoting them as a “alternative for all times” to those that don’t perceive value & penalties is like doing a disservice.”

Consultants we spoke to asserted that each girl deserves such an opportunity and information of this selection, as it might undoubtedly assist her make an knowledgeable alternative.

Whereas it could actually provide a way of management throughout a section of life when constructing stability takes precedence over beginning a household, the method entails hormone injections, a number of scans, and a retrieval process that may be bodily and emotionally taxing.

“Some ladies really feel empowered by the choice, whereas others discover the method overwhelming or fear about setting expectations that will not match the ultimate consequence. There’s additionally the monetary facet that individuals are inclined to underestimate. Egg freezing could be costly, and long-term storage provides to the recurring value, making it much less accessible for a lot of. Even when eggs are saved efficiently, there isn’t a assure of future being pregnant, and this uncertainty typically fuels the talk round whether or not it ought to actually be seen as an ‘insurance coverage coverage’,” remarked Dr Bharadwaj.

Calling it a “good debate,” Dr Rita Modi, senior IVF advisor at Motherhood Fertility and IVF, Kharghar, mentioned the goal ought to at all times be to boost consciousness of the problem as an entire. “If a lady thinks she is just not able to get pregnant at that stage, she will make the most of this expertise, which can assist her to get good high quality eggs at a later age, as we all know the quantity and high quality of eggs decline with age. So that is only a software to assist them. It isn’t one thing that’s encouraging ladies to make some form of socially unacceptable selections or one thing that’s going to vary the economics or the household dynamics. That is merely a medical software to assist a lady get a great high quality being pregnant even at the next age,” mentioned Dr Modi.

Dr Rupali Tambe, fertility specialist at Nova IVF Fertility, Pune, Lullanagar, mentioned ladies of at the moment should be made conscious of the probabilities of egg preservation, or egg freezing. “Whether or not they make use of the process or not is solely as much as them. However in a world that’s lastly opening as much as ladies by way of profession development {and professional} aspirations, no girl ought to remorse delaying beginning a household due to her dedication to her job. It might therefore make sense for ladies to be educated at school ranges about the potential of freezing their eggs, in order to allow them to have youngsters with their very own gamete at an age they really feel emotionally prepared to take action,” mentioned Dr Tambe.

On the identical time, she mentioned that, as fertility specialists, it is usually “vital for us to provide a sensible image of the process and counsel them on the success charge, so they’ll make the selection accordingly.”

DISCLAIMER: This text is predicated on data from the general public area and/or the specialists we spoke to. All the time seek the advice of your well being practitioner earlier than beginning any routine.