A new study by the Centre for Human Reproduction in New York published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says that the freezing and thawing of eggs may reduce a woman's chances of becoming a mother.

According to the study, reports  The Telegraph, cryopreservation or the process of preserving cells or any substance by cooling in sub-zero temperatures, may in fact damage eggs cells.

Some women opt to delay motherhood by freezing their eggs so they can concentrate on their careers.  Some companies like Google and Apple even offer to pay for the procedure for their female employees that normally costs between US$5,000 and US$7000 for their career advancement.

The study by the Centre for Human Reproduction in New York was based on 93 per cent of all IVF cycles in 2013 including data from eight fertility clinics.

The research found that women who have had implanted fresh eggs had a better chance of becoming mothers compared to those with frozen eggs.

UPI reports that from the data gathered, women who were implanted using fresh eggs had a 49.6 percent  chance for live births compared with only 43.2 percent for women who were implanted with frozen eggs. These figures suggest that there are nine out of every 100 women who have had frozen eggs may not achieve live births.

Dr Vitaly Kushnir, the lead author of the study says that cryopreservation and thawing may have a negative effect on the quality of eggs.  However, he says that in cases where chemotherapy has been used to treat cancer, egg may be the best available option.

But if the reason for freezing eggs is just for career or social reasons, he advices women to use fresh eggs instead.

Eggs, which are all present when a female is born normally ages over time.  Freezing the eggs while the woman is young is often advantageous.  The womb however ages more slowly which will enable an older, healthy woman to carry a baby even after menopause.

Professor David Adamson, Board Member of the International Federation of Fertility Societies, says though that since pregnancy success rates using fresh embryos are slightly higher, using frozen eggs or embryos in all cycles, it  is still not know if it is the best option for all women.

Although the success rates of frozen eggs are not as good as fresh eggs,  the study indicates that when used in IVF, the results are rapidly improving.

The Telegraph further reports that according to Professor Sheena Lewis of Queen's University, Belfast further research on improving the use of frozen eggs successfully will definitely offer a lot of women more reproductive choices.