Scarlette Douglas has described freezing her eggs as “the best decision she’s ever made” when discussing her fertility journey.
The A Place In The Sun star, 37, underwent the procedure earlier this year to relieve the “stress” and “pressure” of having to find a relationship and start a family before her “biological clock gets older”.
Scarlette said she now feels like a weight has been lifted because she is not currently in a serious relationship and doesn’t have to rush into anything.
The ITV presenter exclusively told MailOnline she feels “great” after the procedure and spoke openly about her experience.
She said: ‘I feel great, I feel good, I feel like I have no pressure. I don’t have to stress or worry about the fact that I’m 37, it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, like I’m like, ‘I don’t have a time limit anymore,’ which is amazing.’
Scarlette Douglas has described freezing her eggs as “the best decision she’s ever made” as she opened up about her fertility journey.
The A Place In The Sun star, 37, underwent the procedure this year to take the “stress” and “pressure” off of herself to find a relationship and start a family before her “biological clock gets older”.
“Now I’m not in a rush and I’m like, ‘I need to date a guy and make stupid mistakes with the wrong kind of people. ‘ Obviously, having kids is a big decision, so you don’t want to rush it.
“It took me about a month, but it was definitely one of the best decisions I made and it’s something I would tell other women to at least consider.”
The former I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here star revealed that despite being a “career-driven woman”, she was still keen to “future proof” her one-day plans have children.
Scarlette told MailOnline: ‘I’m 37 now, I know that’s still young but I guess women have a bit of a biological clock so that’s pretty old already.
‘They say that at age 35, egg count and quality begin to decline and deteriorate.
‘In my case, I thought that I’m a career-driven woman, I don’t have a partner yet and we can’t talk about having kids or anything like that, so let me protect him and prepare him for the future.
‘This way, if I want to have children in the future, I’ve frozen my eggs and I know that at least I have a fallback option if I don’t know someone and I do it the traditional, conventional way.’
Scarlette revealed she underwent the procedure at Harley Street Fertility Clinic, which lasted almost two weeks in total.
Scarlette exclusively told MailOnline that she feels like a “weight has been lifted” as she is not currently in a serious relationship and now doesn’t have to “rush into things”.
She said: “I feel great, I feel good, I feel like there’s no pressure. I don’t have to stress or worry about the fact that I’m 37, it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”
“It took me about a month, it’s intense, but only for that period of time and it was definitely one of the best decisions I made and it’s something I would tell other women to consider.”
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA), egg freezing and thawing can cost an average of £7,000 to £8,000 and eggs can be stored for up to 55 years.
HEFA says that success rates for frozen eggs tend to be quite low, but because egg freezing technology has improved over the years, older data is not comparable with current success rates.
Scarlette admitted it was an “intense” few weeks, but once the procedure is over there is nothing to “worry about” and urged more women to “talk about” egg freezing.
The presenter explained: ‘Generally I would say you need to set aside about a month on your schedule, from the injection to the eggs coming out it was about two weeks, maybe 10 days, it’s not that bad exactly but they monitor you as you go along.
‘I had it done at Harley Street Fertility Clinic and they were great, they really took their time and made sure to keep monitoring me with different scans and blood tests.
“It seems like a lot and it’s intense, but it’s intense only for the period of time that you do it. Afterwards, it settles and the eggs come out and they’re in the freezer and you don’t have to worry about them.
‘I know it’s very expensive, but there are ways to do it with payment plans, but if anyone is thinking about it, just ask the question.
‘Contact me or look online and have a consultation with a nurse or a doctor because I think it’s something that if we can do it, we should do it or at least we should talk about it.’
In early April, Scarlette took to social media to break down the cost of fertility treatment for fans.
She wrote: ‘Oh my goodness I feel a million times better today! Rest and water have been my best friends! Thank you for all your get well soon messages xx
‘Here is the full cost breakdown: Consultation £250, Female Fertility Scan £300, Health Scan £250, Provera Hormone Tablets £10 (2 packs at £5 each), 2 x 36mcg pens £600 (£300 each), 1 x 72mcg pen £600
Meriofert (water injection powder) £210 (7x £30), One egg freezing cycle £3700, 2x trigger injection (2 powders at £60 each) £120, 5x subsequent injections £150 (£30 each), 8 subsequent tablets (1 bottle) £10
‘*I forgot Progynova. This is the HRT I was initially on. I think it was £10. *Correction* Total: £6210. Less £300 for referrals and total: £5910, give or take.’
In March, Scarlette cried during a hospital visit as she began her fertility journey.
She admitted it was an “intense” few weeks, but once the procedure was over there was nothing to “worry about” and urged more women to “talk about” egg freezing.
The star took to Instagram and shared that she was in the hospital for an egg retrieval procedure which left her emotional.
She told her followers: ‘Well, I’m going to be honest, I felt very uncomfortable today, ladies.
“The trigger injection really made the bloating and lower abdominal pain worse, and the closer it got to my egg retrieval date, the more uncomfortable I became. I had to sit on my left side for most of the day!”
Scarlette recounted how she cried before the procedure because no one was allowed to accompany her.
She wrote: ‘Everything was explained to me in detail and I felt in good hands. I shed a small tear just before I was given sedation, mainly because I was scared and nervous, but also because you have to do everything alone; no one can come with you.
‘Anyway, I slept better than ever. I came out and was in pain so they gave me more pain meds. I stayed there for about an hour and a half and just as I was ready to leave the recovery room, they told me they had retrieved 24 eggs and 19 were viable to freeze. I was beyond happy!’
“That was more than I could have ever imagined and that’s why I was and am so happy that, up to this point, it’s all been worth it.”
