Egg Freezing: A Choice Of Living Life On Your Own Terms

Diana Hayden hopes to inspire more women to freeze their eggs and give themselves the choice of living life on their own terms.

- Moeena Halim

Diana Hayden walks into the doctor’s clinic brimming with happiness; Arya, her four-week-old baby girl, swaddled in a pink and grey wrap, is nestled comfortably in her arms. Both mother and daughter are pink-cheeked with contentment. Eight years ago, a medical procedure brought the actor-cum-model a sense of relief and freedom from the pressures of a ticking biological clock. Today, it has offered the 42-year-old a near miraculous chance at motherhood. “I truly feel like I have it all,” gushes the usually tight-lipped Hayden. Always shying away from talks of her personal life, she has decided to share the intimate details of her story in the hope that she can inspire other young women.

THE BACK-UP PLAN

At a time when little was known about the process of freezing eggs and when several doctors, not knowing enough about the technology, were not suggesting it for lifestyle reasons, Hayden underwent a procedure to have 16 of her eggs frozen through the vitrification technique. “I am a voracious reader and I happened to come across some material about freezing eggs. It was mainly being used in cases of cancer in US and Australia, as a way to allow the patient to have a child once they had overcome the disease. But I couldn’t see why I shouldn’t opt for the same procedure to allow me the freedom to put motherhood on hold,” says Hayden, who was 32 then.