Egg freezing promises to liberate professional women - but creepy corporatism could loom

The procedure is increasingly being sought out by professional women looking to postpone motherhood, but it could have unintended consequences

Isobel Taylor laughs as she recalls her decision to freeze her eggs. "I joke to my friends that it's douchebag insurance," the 34-year-old art director from Los Angeles says, explaining that since the right man is not yet on the horizon, putting her eggs in storage feels like a reasonable backup plan. "It takes away a bit of the stress."

Taylor (not her real name) is far from alone in opting for egg freezing. There has been a surge in mainly professional women across the US going down the freezing route in an effort to preserve healthy eggs that can be thawed and fertilized later, if or when they decide to start a family.