The relatively new technology of oocyte and ovarian tissue freezing may represent a major breakthrough of fertility preservation and expand women’s reproductive options of a future pregnancy, which encourages healthy women to seek elective oocyte cryopreservation as an insurance against age-related fertility caused by postponing childbearing for non-medical reasons. However, the application of this procedure results in all sorts of ethico-legal issues and bioethical concerns. It is widely discussed the key issues in the debates around supporting and challenging elective oocyte cryopreservation, including moral acceptability, reproductive autonomy, medicalization of reproduction, medical implications, safety, efficacy, cost-effectiveness of the procedure, potential benefits and harms to mother and offspring, and other issues. In light of the controversial nature of elective oocyte cryopreservation, a series of ethical countermeasures should be taken to turn it into a procedure that is conducive to best clinical and ethical practices.

Elective oocyte cryopreservation; Nonmedical reasons; Delaying childbirth; Ethical evaluation