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'Ocean's 8' star Sarah Paulson reveals she's had her eggs frozen

The actress explained why she underwent an elective egg-freezing procedure.
/ Source: TODAY

The decision to have kids is, for many, is one of the biggest choices in life — and celebrities aren’t exempt.

Recently, ‘Ocean’s 8’ star Sarah Paulson announced that she had her eggs frozen, adding that she's not sure whether or not she wanted to have children.

Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor
Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor at an event in New York City.Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images

“I love kids, but I'm very impulsive, and I was afraid that I would have children and then regret it,” the actress told the British publication, the Sunday Times. “But that's not something I feel entirely confident about either, because I might regret not having them, too. So I froze my eggs, just in case.”

Paulson, 42, is in a relationship with 74-year-old actress Holland Taylor.

She's one of a growing number of women electing to undergo the cryopreservation procedure, in which a woman takes hormones to produce excess eggs that are then harvested and stored for years until she’s ready to start a family.

NBC’s own Morgan Radford underwent testing earlier this year.

“What [the doctor] told me gives me enough information to be a little bit more proactive in a way that frankly may have changed my life, and so now I can be the author of my own story,” she said.

Some women find that having eggs frozen can be freeing. One woman who lives in Los Angeles, told TODAY that freezing her eggs ultimately took the pressure off of dating. Others say it gives them time to pursue their careers.

The process does have it drawbacks though. In addition to the procedure being expensive (it can cost more than $10,000), some women must undergo multiple rounds to obtain enough eggs for successful implantation. And even then, there are no guarantees.

Eggs can be damaged once they are thawed, or even damaged in storage. One facility in Cleveland, Ohio, had a major equipment malfunction that resulted in the loss of 2,100 frozen eggs and embryos.

Others have started families years later than they thought they could, thanks for the procedure.

Ultimately, women who have contemplated the procedure say that talking to other women is helpful in making the decision. They also encourage women to talk to a medical professional and weigh their pros and cons.