64% of Single Women Say Fertility Pressure Makes Them More Likely to Settle 

In fairy tales, the princess always ends up living happily ever after with Prince Charming. So why do so many of us end up walking down the aisle with Prince Good Enough? Because, much like Cinderella herself, so many of us are racing against a ticking clock — our biological clocks. 

Nearly two-thirds of 505 single women aged 18-49 told DatingNews.com that fertility concerns have forced them to compromise on what they want from a partner or relationship. They’ve overlooked red flags, lowered their standards, and stuck around longer than they wanted because the pressure to conceive outweighed the strain of a mediocre relationship. 

When we talk about “biological clocks,” we tend to focus on anxiety about fertility. But this study highlights how fertility anxiety can actually change the way people date.

This raises an important question: If there were a way to relieve this fertility pressure by giving women more time to reproduce, would fewer women end up in disappointing relationships?

In other words, do modern interventions like egg-freezing ease fertility pressure enough to allow women to be more discerning about who they date, and about the behavior they’re willing to put up with? 

The answer to this question reveals a generation of women who are ready to ask for what they really want (and deserve): Fewer restrictive timelines, less pressure, and the time to find an authentic Prince Charming who aligns with their needs. 

Fertility Pressure Can Change What Women Tolerate in Relationships

We’ve seen the downsides of fertility pressure in daters’ lives: 64% told DatingNews.com that fertility pressure has made them compromise with a partner against their better judgment, and 38% have stayed with someone they consider to be the “wrong” partner. 

Many women feel compelled to “settle” out of fear that they’ll miss their chance to have a biological child. (For the sake of this study, we define “settling” as compromising against one’s better judgment or committing to someone you know is the “wrong” person for you to achieve a goal, such as marriage or motherhood.) 

Women who feel pressured to settle might overlook red flags (34%), lower their standards or expectations (24%), stay in a relationship longer than they want (24%), and move forward faster than they otherwise would have (11%).

Gen Z Is Already Feeling the Biological Clock

Millennials are most likely to freeze their eggs (53%), but Gen Z daters are right on their heels (49%). And despite being the youngest group surveyed, Gen Z respondents are changing their dating behaviors because of fertility pressure, and they’re changing more than any other generation. 

Gen Z is clearly influenced by fertility timelines, at times more than even Millennials; consider the 72% of Gen Z daters (the most of any surveyed age group) who have compromised in relationships because of their biological clock. 

They’re most willing to compromise because they’re also the most open to having children (73%, compared to 57% and 35% of Millennials and women aged 46-49, respectively). For Gen Z, egg-freezing offers a way to have children without giving up control over when or with whom they become parents.

We’ve read all the think-pieces about how Gen Z daters are in a “sex recession” and are “afraid of dating,” but this research suggests that younger daters aren’t necessarily afraid — they’re pragmatic. 

Generational Comparison

The pattern is substantially stronger among younger respondents:

38% Have Stayed With the Wrong Partner Because They Felt Time Was Running Out

Never underestimate the pressure of a steadily ticking clock — it can compel people to do things that go against their better judgment. 

Take, for example, the 38% of respondents who said they’ve stayed with the wrong partner because of fertility pressure (this was a separate question from the 24% who stayed in a relationship longer than they wanted). In a race against time, people will make life-changing decisions they otherwise wouldn’t make. 

20% of respondents described their biological clock as an incessant ticking in the backs of their heads — maddening, worrying, and potentially life-changing if acted upon. Starting over in a new relationship isn’t an option. 

For these respondents, waiting for the right partner isn’t worth risking their chance to have biological children. 

At 42%, Millennials are most likely to stay in the “wrong” relationship due to reproductive pressure. Again, Gen Z isn’t far behind, with 40% falling into the same trap.

This behavioral pattern isn’t going anywhere so long as reproductive pressure grows. But what if women didn’t feel rushed by their biological clocks, and what if they didn’t feel like they had to settle? 

52% Say Egg Freezing Could Make Them Less Likely to Settle

According to our study, daters who have the time to date with real intention, without a constantly ticking clock in their ears, are less likely to settle into the wrong relationship. More than half (52%) of single women surveyed by DatingNews.com said that freezing their eggs would make them less likely to settle for the wrong partner. 

60% of Gen Z respondents said that freezing their eggs would make them less likely to settle, and 52% of Millennials agree, followed by 34% of respondents aged 46-49. 

And 49% of respondents told us that freezing their eggs would take significant, or at least some, pressure off of their dating lives. Some women are willing to walk the walk, too: 48% said they would genuinely consider freezing their eggs because it would lower the pressure to find “Mr. Right” within a set time frame. 

Although nearly half of surveyed women would consider freezing their eggs, the same number — 48% — said they wouldn’t. It’s clear that freezing eggs still isn’t a universally accessible reproductive option, whether due to financial constraints, cultural taboos, or perhaps even religious restrictions. 

But what about that last 4%? According to our data, these respondents have already frozen their eggs. Many of these women report feeling relief from fertility pressure. When women who have already frozen their eggs and report relief are included, 51% report or anticipate some relief.

The control freezing eggs gives women has not been lost on either Millennials or Gen Z; more than half (56%) of the Millennial women who have already frozen their eggs say they are less likely to settle in relationships, and 54% of Gen Z respondents in the same group agree.

More Time Would Mean Taking More Time to Commit

The most important takeaway here isn’t that women are increasingly open to freezing their eggs, but what freezing their eggs provides: Stability. Clarity. Time. This newfound control over reproductive timelines can actually help women change their dating habits and behaviors for the better. 

Thirty-three percent said they would take more time before committing to someone if they froze their eggs. This doesn’t mean these women want to avoid commitment, but that they want to avoid committing to the wrong person — starting a family with the wrong person. 

After freezing their eggs, some respondents would be more adaptable to a potential partner’s own timeline, with 14% saying they’d be open to dating someone who isn’t ready for children yet. 7% would be more open to younger partners. Marriage, too, wouldn’t loom quite as large for 21% of daters. 

Still, 30% of surveyed women said freezing their eggs wouldn’t change how they date. But that may reflect individual preferences and the relative inaccessibility of egg freezing more than a lack of interest in the flexibility it offers.

Yes, freezing eggs can decrease fertility pressure, but it also highlights just how many women see this procedure as an unexpected path to greater independence, more informed decision-making, and improved relationship satisfaction, all because they had more time to truly consider their partner’s alignment before making a commitment. 

At its core, the decision to freeze one’s eggs isn’t about putting off marriage and motherhood. It’s about not letting one societally imposed deadline dictate the other. 

Women Want More Time to Find the Right Partner — Not Avoid Commitment

People don’t go through the often-expensive, emotionally draining, and invasive process of freezing their eggs because they want to avoid commitment. In reality, they simply want more time to clarify their needs before making any life-changing commitments, including long-term partnerships and motherhood. 

If you should take anything away from this study, it’s that fertility pressure is not an abstract concern. We feel its weight every time we lower our standards, ignore red flags, and settle for “good enough” in our relationships because we want to have a baby within an “acceptable” time frame. 

With more women open to freezing their eggs than ever, flexibility and control are becoming increasingly important parts of the path to parenthood. 

For many, egg-freezing isn’t about delaying motherhood; it’s about giving themselves more time to make thoughtful decisions about when to have children, who to have them with, and what compromises they’re willing to make along the way.

Methodology

This survey was conducted via online poll during the week of August 17, 2026, among 505 single U.S. women ages 18–49. Respondents were surveyed about fertility-related dating pressure, relationship decisions, egg freezing, and future family plans. The overall sample has an approximate margin of error of ±4.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.