Careers in Apple, Facebook: Female workers paid to freeze their eggs

Silicon Valley giants, Apple and Facebook, have announced that they would pay female employees to freeze their eggs so that they could work longer. This would help the women defer starting a family till when they desire. 

The companies believe the package would help them to attract the best in female talent and retain star employees as they grow older.

This egg freezing option would enable women put their fertility on hold while they focus on growing in their careers and not having to worry about the ticking biological clock. Many however say it is a way of selling their souls to the companies.

Many women would actually want it even without their companies offering it, but it is way too expensive. It costs not less than $10,000 per round!

Facebook recently started the benefits, offering $20,000 to cover the process itself, which costs between $10,000 and $15,000 and the annual $500 cost to store the eggs. Apple on the other hand, plans to start in January.

Apple in a statement said: “We want to empower women at Apple to do the best work of their lives as they care for loved ones and raise their families,”

According to a post on the online forum, eggsurance.com, “Women today are at a cultural and generational crossroads. We have the same career expectations and demands as men.

"As our biological clocks tick away, we must establish ourselves in the workplace, find the right mate and become financially secure enough to establish a family."

According to SkyNews, Microsoft reported earlier this month that only 29% of its staff were women, while at Google it was 30%. Some 31% of Facebook employees are women, but just 15% are in technical jobs.

Experts have however warned that egg freezing is a relatively new procedure that does not guarantee a successful pregnancy.

Corey Whelan, of the American Fertility Association, told SkyNews: "It's really, really important for women to know it's not a guarantee of motherhood".