Egg freezing: Empowering choice or elite privilege?

Upasana Konidela’s advice to women students at IIT Hyderabad to consider freezing their eggs to prioritise careers has triggered a nationwide debate. Her remark, shared in a viral video,
has drawn strong reactions from doctors, feminists to general public, with opinions sharply divided on whether the suggestion empowers women or oversimplifies a complex choice.


What happened?
In a video shared to her social media handles, the entrepreneur and wife of Ram Charan, was seen telling women students at IIT Hyderabad that egg freezing could offer them greater control over their personal and professional timelines. “The biggest insurance for women is to freeze their eggs. Because then you can choose when to get married, when you want to have kids, on your own terms, when you are financially independent,” she said. After facing significant flak online, she also posted a clarification addressing the debate her comments had sparked.





Upasana Konidela @upasanakonidela
"I’m happy to have sparked a healthy debate & thank your for your respectful responses.
Stay tuned as I voice my opinions on the pleasures/pressures of privilege - that u all have been talking about. Don’t forget to check out my images ! It has very important facts that will help you make the right comments. And for all those sound employers out there - let’s work together to get more women into the workforce."


‘EGG FREEZING CAN OFFER FLEXIBILITY BEYOND SOCIETAL TIMELINES’
"Marriage is beautiful. Motherhood is sacred. But a woman is more than her deadlines. She deserves a life designed consciously, not dictated by panic or pressure. If choosing herself first allows even one woman to enter marriage with strength and not desperation, then the message is not just valid... It is a call to choose clarity over chaos, agency over anxiety, and selfhood over societal timelines."
— Dr Dipshika Ghosh, critical care medicine

"This debate hits close to home. Soon after I started practicing, I saw firsthand how frequently late pregnancies and associated birth complications can completely alter the course of a family’s life. The stress and challenges for the parents and, of course, the child are immense. Prevention is key. For me, that meant aiming for marriage by 25 and a baby by 27. I am grateful that I followed through, as this choice worked out extremely well."
— Dr Mayuri, a paediatric physiotherapist


‘THE PROCEDURE CARRIES COSTS, RISKS & NO ASSURED OUTCOMES’
"The cost of egg freezing can be around 2-2.5 lakhs. Some clinics may charge 25-50k per year for storage… Now add to this the side effects of hormonal therapy, emotional and physical trauma whose cost cannot be calculated! It is great that these therapies are available for couples who really need it for medical reasons but selling them as a “choice for life” to those who don’t understand cost & consequences is like doing a disservice."
— Dr Sumeet Shah, sr consultant - general, laparoscopic & robotic surgery


Even if a woman freezes her eggs, there is no guarantee that this would translate into a successful embryo transfer and successful pregnancy… As a woman grows old, many health factors can prevent successful implantation
— Sunita Sayammagaru, a Hyderabad-based gynaecologist


It’s very easy to give advice on egg freezing when you have crores in the bank. IVF costs lakhs per cycle. Egg freezing costs lakhs upfront plus annual storage charges. Most young women listening to you can’t afford even one attempt… Fertility peaks in your twenties, declines in your thirties, and drops sharply after 35. Freezing eggs isn’t a guarantee. It’s a gamble with modest success rates
— Rajesh Parikh, a veteran obstetrician and gynaecologist


Public weighs in
@_BRRao_
A lot of those IIT girls & even otherwise women like me come from families where marriage is still seen as social & financially security, not just romance. Telling them not to think about marriage while your own life is cushioned by multi generational wealth & one of the most powerful filmi political families in south India, yeah, the privilege gap is glaring.


@pmadhav_karthik
Glad to see someone openly addressing these topics without sugarcoating. Your choices, your timeline, that’s how it should be for everyone. Thanks for using your voice to push a healthier conversation around career, marriage, and women’s choices.


Celebrities who have endorsed egg freezing
From considering it as an option to calling it empowering, challenging or simply practical, several celebrities have previously shared their personal experiences with egg freezing. Mrunal Thakur, Sania Mirza, Patralekhaa and Priyanka Chopra are among those who have spoken candidly about the procedure and their reasons behind it.
-TNN


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