More American women than ever are freezing their eggs in anticipation of future use, but very few ever return to thaw those eggs in hopes of getting pregnant.

The number of planned elective oocyte cryopreservation, or egg-freezing, cycles across the country nearly quadrupled between 2014 and 2021, from 4,153 to 16,436, reports Rewire News Group, but only 5.7% of those women returned to use their frozen eggs for in vitro fertilization within the study's follow-up period of five to seven years.

The peer-reviewed study out of the University of California, Los Angeles, published in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, also reported that women are starting to freeze their eggs younger. The average age of elective oocyte retrieval patients declined from 36 years in 2014 to 34.9 years in 2021. Return rates for use were highest among patients who were older when they froze their eggs. Among people who froze their eggs between ages 38 and 42, roughly 8% returned to use them.

The average age a woman in the U.S. gets pregnant for the first time is 27 years old, with the overall average age for all births at 29.6 years. The average age for a woman getting pregnant through IVF is 36.4 years old.

Body of Knowledge

Up to 50% of a hand's grip strength is due to the pinky finger. It's not so much about direct force as the pinky finger's contribution to stabilization and balance, working with the thumb and index finger to maximize grip lock.

Get Me That, Stat!

Food insecurity — the condition of not having access to sufficient food or food of adequate quality — is growing in the U.S. The most recent data from 2023 shows that nearly 13.8% of Americans experience food insecurity, up from 12.8% in 2022.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently canceled its annual food insecurity survey, which tracked how many Americans are struggling to put food on the table. It called the 30-year-old survey "redundant, costly, politicized and extraneous."

Counts

27,000: The cost of a family plan on employer-provided health insurance in 2025, in dollars, after premiums spiked at more than double the rate of inflation (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)

Stories for the Waiting Room

A measles outbreak earlier this year in West Texas and surrounding states sickened more than 760 people and killed two young children. Ninety-three percent of those who became infected were unvaccinated.

Doc Talk

Keratosis pilaris: A common and harmless skin condition characterized by small, rough bumps on the skin. It's caused by an overgrowth of the protein keratin, which blocks hair follicles and leads to the formation of bumps. Informally, the condition is sometimes known as "chicken skin" — presumably the plucked version, since the presence of feathers would signify an entirely different dermatological problem.

Phobia of the Week

Ommetaphobia: Fear of eyes. (Ommetaphoba would be a fear of i's, which in severe cases can result in a vowel movement.)

Best Medicine

Personal trainer to a small group of newcomers: "Welcome to Joe's Gym. Let's start by saying why each of us is here today."

First person: "I'm here to lift weights and become stronger."

Secon person: "I'm here to lose weight and become thinner."

Third person: "I'm here to eat pizza later and become happier."

Observation

"No one goes before his time — unless the boss leaves early." — American comedian Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

Medical History

This week in 1979, artificial blood was first used in a patient by transfusion at the University of Minnesota hospital. The patient was a Jehovah's Witness, who had refused a transfusion of real blood because of his religious beliefs.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2025, the Ig Nobel Prize in literature went to the late William B. Bean for conscientiously and quite eloquently recording and analyzing the rate of growth on one of his fingernails over a period of 35 years.

On average, fingernails grow at a speed of roughly 3.5 millimeters per month, or 0.116 mm per day, which is thinner than a human hair. (Toenails tend to grow less than half as fast.)

Among Bean's conclusions, which included allusions to medieval astrology, James Boswell and "Moby Dick," was this final report observation: "The nail provides a slowly moving keratin kymograph that measures age on the inexorable abscissa of time."

Self-Exam

Q: Which is the largest gland in the human body?

A) Thyroid

B) Liver

C) Pineal

D) Pancreas

A: B) Liver. The liver is, in fact, both a gland and an organ. It performs functions of a typical organ but also produces and secretes substances, such as bile and hormones, which are characteristic of a gland.

Epitaphs

"I Was Hoping for A Pyramid" — Multiple headstones at multiple sites

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Alicia Petresc at Unsplash