The Bachelor's Whitney Bischoff Reveals She Froze Her Eggs Two Years Before She Even Met Her Fiancé Chris Soules!

Fertility nurse calls it an "insurance policy"

By Zach Johnson Mar 26, 2015 1:35 PMTags
Chris Soules, Whitney Bischoff, BachelorABC/Nicole Kohl

The Bachelor's Whitney Bischoff and Chris Soules haven't even set a wedding date, but one of them is already thinking about kids. In fact, Bischoff has been thinking about motherhood before they even met.

Bischoff, a 29-year-old Chicago-based fertility nurse, revealed that she froze her eggs at age 27. Talking to ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis, she said, "The hope is that you don't have to use them. You know? I mean, that's the whole point of an insurance policy. You don't ever want to have to use it. But if you need it, that's when, it's there," she in the Good Morning America interview, which aired Thursday.

Bischoff underwent vitrification, a process in which fertile eggs are collected and frozen rapidly and stored for future use. The process can cost anywhere from $8,000 to $14,000, in addition to yearly fees.

"Every woman should have the option and the education of what the scenario is and what the options are with regard to egg freezing," said Dr. Brian Kaplan, a fertility specialist at aParent IVF. "I think it's applicable to any woman in her 20s or 30s who's thinking forward about her fertility potential and that wants to sustain her reproductive age, because there's such a drop-off in pregnancy rates as women get older."

Colleen Coughlin, the clinic's founder and director, told Davis that while "there are many advanced-age women that can get pregnant," many "keep having miscarriages." But, according to Coughlin, "By freezing the egg while that woman is younger, we increased the chance of finding a healthy egg, health meaning that the overall quality is good, and the chromosomes within it are stable and they're normal."

Working at the fertility clinic was an eye opener for Bischoff.

"I was working every day, learning about this and teaching patents and hearing, you know, when patients say to you, 'I just wish I would've known. I wish that someone would've told me that I had these options. I wish that, you know, 10 years ago I would've had—been afforded this opportunity,'" she said.

The reality star explained that she felt like she had to "walk the talk, and I felt like I, you know, was taking control of my career and taking control of other aspects in my life. So why would I not allow myself the ability to do this? And, for me, it just was giving me options for my future," Bischoff said.

Bischoff didn't tell Davis how Soules reacted to her fertility news, nor did she say how she told him. She did, however, admit to being "smitten over him" while filming The Bachelor. "I think that he just was a very genuine, sweet guy that America fell in love with. And then I did, too," she said. "I'm a lucky lady."

Iowa-based farmer Soules, 33, is currently working in L.A., and as such, Bischoff said wedding planning is a "step by step" process. "We've had a lot of changes, you know, coming public with our relationship and then Dancing with the Stars. So right now, we're just trying to enjoy each other. And we'll get there.

Bischoff is Soules' biggest fan. "I feel very confident [he] will make it to at least top three," she said.