Australian companies want to 'help' by paying to freeze female workers' eggs

Some well-known Australian companies are investigating whether they can encourage female employees to focus more on their careers by paying for their eggs to be frozen, according to reports.

The companies are already in negotiations with Australia's first dedicated egg-freezing clinic, which is due to open today, News Corp reports.

The move would follow the lead of major US companies including Apple, which pays up to $20,000 to freeze its workers' eggs.

The new Sydney clinic, Genea Horizion, is aimed at clients who want to freeze their eggs as an option for the future, the company's website states.

Egg-freezing may help women "press pause" on their "biological clocks", the website states. 

"It can give you an opportunity to take control of your fertility and it is an option increasingly being considered and taken up by women around the world," it reads.

As well as Apple, US tech giants Facebook and Google also pay to freeze their workers' eggs, in an effort to improve the range of their family-planning options. 

Critics of the practice argue that it reinforces an idea that "work is more important than family", Business Insider reports.