A couple of weeks ago, an Egyptian woman breaks her silence in a Facebook post, that came as a shock to many, announcing that she froze her eggs. Reem Mehanna’s video has gone viral and has become the talk of the town lately, especially after her appearance on Amr Adib’s show earlier this week.

Mehanna publicly shared a secret that she’s been keeping to herself for the past couple of years. She explained that she has always been convinced that she shouldn’t get married before the age of 30; she wanted to focus on her career first. Not to mention that she believed that she needed to become more mature, as well as explore her personality and needs before making this major life decision. And not knowing when she’ll be able to ever get married, and that like any woman she wanted children, she decided to freeze her eggs.

Motherhood is a dream to many, and Mehanna felt that to become a mother, she didn’t have to settle for any man just for the sake of it. She wanted to meet the right person, but don’t we all? She took the decision after many years of research, and the fact that eggs can remain frozen for up to 20-30 years encouraged her. 

Unfortunately, Mehanna had to keep it a secret as, by that, she broke a societal norm. Our Egyptian society still hasn’t come to accept egg freezing or any similar surgery with a matter of fact. People nowadays view this controversial as a social taboo, as a result of being concerned about whether or not it’s religiously prohibited.

In light of the events, Dar Al Ifta stated that egg freezing is, in fact, religiously acceptable if it meets four conditions. Those are: the eggs and the sperm have to be of a married couple, the frozen eggs need to be stored somewhere safe where swapping samples would not be possible, fertilization must be in the mother’s womb, and making sure the procedure wouldn’t have any negative side effects on the fetus’ health. 

Either way, Mehanna is incredibly brave to face her fears, as well as share her experience publicly. And despite this matter opened fire on her from many who do not agree with her, it was definitely an eye-opener to others.