What does it imply?
An initial evaluation with a fertility specialist will likely include blood tests, a pelvic ultrasound, and a discussion of your medical history.
If you continue with egg freezing, the first stage of the process, known as ‘ovarian stimulation’, will begin.
This involves hormone injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs instead of the single egg that is typically and naturally released each month.
This treatment involves multiple visits to the fertility clinic over a few weeks, with regular monitoring of hormone levels in the blood and ovaries.
When the time is right for them to emerge, a medical professional will use an ultrasound-guided needle and, with a suction device, extract the eggs (seven to 14, on average, for women under 38) from the ovarian follicles.
The retrieved eggs will be transported to the laboratory, evaluated and flash frozen by an embryologist (using an ultra-rapid procedure called vitrification), and then usually placed in a flask containing liquid nitrogen.
Storage at very cold temperatures, below -150°C (-238°F), allows eggs to remain viable for later use.
When you want to use them, the eggs will be thawed and those that have survived intact will be injected with your partner’s or a donor’s sperm.
How long can eggs be stored?
Women in the UK can now store their eggs frozen for up to 55 years.
This rule, which also applies to sperm and embryos, has been in effect since July 2022, when the duration increased from the previous limit of 10 years.
However, women will need to renew their consent to a clinic that stores their eggs every 10 years.
And those who frozen their eggs before July 2022 and want to store them for more than 10 years should contact their clinic to see if it is possible.
How much does it cost?
The entire process from egg freezing to thawing in the UK costs between £7,000 and £8,000 on average.
While Collecting and freezing your eggs will run up a bill of around £3,350 – this is just part of the process.
The hormonal medication that must be taken to stimulate egg production before the procedure costs approximately £500 to £1,500 on top of that.
Storage costs are additional and vary between clinics, but tend to range between £125 and £350 per year, according to the HFEA and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Thawing eggs and transferring them to the uterus costs an average of £2,500.
What clinics offer egg freezing?
The HFEA is responsible for licensing and inspecting fertility clinics in the UK and publishes the scores for each inspected fertility clinic.
Licensed clinics available in the UK can be found on the HFEA website by entering a postcode.
How safe is the procedure?
According to the HFEA, IVF is “mostly very safe.”
However, some women experience side effects from their fertility medications.
They are usually mild, but in extreme cases women can develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a potentially serious complication of fertility treatment.
It can range from mild to severe, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Mild OHSS is common and usually improves over time. The most serious cases require specialized care and hospital admission.
Key symptoms of OHSS to look out for include mild abdominal bloating, discomfort, and nausea in mild cases. Severe signs of OHSS involve extreme thirst and dehydration. A serious but rare complication is also the formation of a blood clot (thrombosis) in the legs or lungs.
How successful is it?
According to embryologists, egg freezing should be considered an insurance policy rather than a guarantee.
Success rates depend largely on the woman’s age when they are frozen, but experts say what also matters is the total number of eggs available for use.
Just as when using fresh eggs, not all eggs will be fertilized, not all fertilized eggs will result in a viable embryo, and not all viable embryos will result in a live birth.
An American study found that the chance of a live birth among women who used their own frozen eggs was 39 percent overall.
This figure rose to 51 percent among those who were under 38 when they froze their eggs.