Freezing eggs: preserving future fertility

Many women want to have children in the future. But what if you haven't found the right partner yet, need more time to build your career, want to achieve other life goals, or are facing a medical procedure that could affect your fertility? Freezing your eggs is an option that may help you achieve your dream of motherhood when you're ready.

Retrieving and storing your eggs for future use (called cryopreservation) may give you the best chance of conceiving later, especially if you're facing medical treatments (such as chemotherapy, treatment for severe endometriosis, or gender confirmation surgery) or health conditions (such as autoimmune diseases that could affect your fertility).

Who is a good candidate for egg freezing?

Whether egg freezing is right for you depends on several different factors that you'll need to discuss with your doctor. For example, if you've been diagnosed with cancer, whether you qualify to freeze your eggs may depend on the type of cancer and whether you have time to complete the fertility preservation process before cancer treatment begins.

But for many women, the biggest factor to consider is their "biological clock." Medically speaking, this means that the number and quality of your eggs decrease as you age. Eventually, when you reach menopause (usually between ages 45 and 55), you stop ovulating (releasing eggs from your ovaries for fertilization). Age is the most important factor in successfully freezing your eggs.

“Your egg supply starts to decline more rapidly around age 37,” says Pardis Hosseinzadeh, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the Johns Hopkins Fertility Center at Green Springs, a Johns Hopkins Health Care & Surgery Center in Lutherville, Maryland. “By age 43, 90 percent of a woman’s eggs will be abnormal, meaning they have no potential for pregnancy.” (https://tinyurl.com/3wv3b6cz)

Women who freeze their eggs before age 40 have a greater chance of becoming pregnant in the future. But a reproductive endocrinologist (an infertility specialist) can offer testing to determine if you’re a good candidate for egg freezing. “Freezing your eggs after age 40 is generally not recommended, but it can be considered on a case-by-case basis,” says Hosseinzadeh.

What is the egg freezing process like?

While egg freezing is a multi-step process, it’s much simpler than you might think. “It’s the exact same process as IVF,” says Hosseinzadeh. “The only difference is that after we retrieve the eggs, we store them instead of fertilizing them.”

Here’s what you can expect:

▸You self-administer two to three hormone injections per day for 10-12 days. (A friend or partner can help, if necessary.) This encourages a group of eggs to develop at the same time.

▸To track the development of the eggs during this period, you’ll also have four to six pelvic ultrasounds and frequent blood tests.

▸Once the eggs are mature, you’ll have an ultrasound-guided surgery to retrieve them. The outpatient procedure takes 20-30 minutes under anesthesia.

▸An embryologist (a person trained to examine eggs and embryos) will verify that the eggs are mature, meaning they have the potential to be fertilized.

Side effects of freezing your eggs

While side effects are common, they are usually not serious and are due to the natural increase in hormone levels caused by ovarian stimulation. These side effects may include:

▸Mood swings

▸Hot flashes

▸Headaches

▸Nausea

After the egg retrieval procedure, some women may experience:

▸Bloating

▸Cramping

▸Minor pain

How much does it cost to freeze your eggs?

Since insurance coverage and fertility center fees vary, it’s best to check with your infertility specialist and health insurance company about out-of-pocket costs. Total costs typically include:

•Medications

•Ultrasounds

•Bloodwork

•Egg retrieval procedure

•Egg freezing process

•Yearly frozen egg storage costs

Help pay for egg freezing

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer or another condition that affects your fertility, you may have more financial protection than you think.

“Some states require insurance companies to cover fertility preservation costs after a patient is diagnosed with cancer,” says Hosseinzadeh. “Also, cancer patients may receive grants to help them pay for egg freezing. Don’t assume this isn’t an option for you—at least come in and talk to your fertility specialist about what you can do in this situation.”

What’s the best age to freeze your eggs?

For most women, 30 is the peak of fertility. While it’s still possible to continue retrieving and freezing eggs after that point, most fertility specialists are unlikely to encourage women in their 40s to freeze their eggs.

Are there any potential complications/risks to the fetus from freezing your eggs?

Assuming there are no underlying medical conditions, there are no known risks to the fetus from freezing your eggs. However, once you bring your eggs and sperm together to form an embryo, you can choose to have the embryo undergo preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) to screen for potential chromosomal issues.

The Bottom Line

Egg freezing is a proven solution for those who wish to preserve their fertility—whether for health reasons, choosing to delay becoming a parent, or gender transition. While it may not be a financially feasible option for everyone, there are programs that can help reduce costs.

While the process requires several weeks of treatment, the opportunity to preserve your fertility can offer multiple benefits that make it worth a try.