Fertility
Everything you need to know before freezing your eggs
Even though egg freezing has grown in popularity over the last decade, to many the process remains intense and overwhelming
Although the technology for freezing an embryo – also known as oocyte cryopreservation – was developed in the 1980s to help women suffering with serious medical conditions improve their chances of having a baby post-treatment, the idea of egg preservation in healthy women has emerged recently.
In the US, the number of people who have frozen their eggs rose by more than 400 per cent, to over 13,000 in 2020 from just over 2,500 in 2012, according to data from the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology.
Similarly, in the UK there were 11 times more egg freeze cycles in 2021 than in 2011, with the number of embryo freeze cycles increasing from around 230 cycles in 2011 to 10,719 in 2021.
But even as egg freezing has grown more popular over the last decade, the process can seem intense and overwhelming. Here’s what you need to know.
What is egg freezing?
Egg freezing is a way of preserving a woman’s fertility so she can try to have a family in the future. It involves collecting a woman’s eggs, freezing them and then thawing them later on so they can be used in fertility treatment.
A woman’s chances of conceiving naturally fall as she gets older because the quality and number of her eggs drops.
According to HFEA, egg freezing can be an attempt to preserve fertility by freezing the eggs when the woman is young and the eggs are of the highest quality.
What does egg freezing involve?
Firstly, you’ll need to be tested for any infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis. This has no bearing on whether you can freeze your eggs or not, but is to ensure that affected egg samples are stored separately to prevent contamination of other samples.
You’ll then start the IVF process, which usually takes around two to three weeks to complete. Normally this will involve taking drugs to boost your egg production and help the eggs mature. When they’re ready, they’ll be collected whilst you’re under general anaesthetic or sedation.
At this point, instead of mixing the eggs with sperm, as in conventional IVF, a freezing solution will be added to protect the eggs.
The eggs will then be frozen either by cooling them slowly or by vitrification, a practice of freezing an egg or embryo with extremely rapid cooling. They will then be stored in tanks of liquid nitrogen.
In the UK, there were 11 times more egg freeze cycles in 2021 than in 2011
Most patients under 38 years of age will have on around 7-14 eggs collected, although this isn’t always possible for patients with low ovarian reserves.
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 donor’s sperm.
How safe is egg freezing?
The UK’s Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority says IVF is mostly very safe, although some women do experience side effects from their fertility drugs. These are usually mild, but in extreme cases women can develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).
How much does egg freezing cost?
The average cost of having your eggs collected and frozen in the UK is £3,350, with medication being an added £500-£1,500. Storage costs are extra and tend to be between £125 and £350 per year.
Thawing eggs and transferring them to the womb costs an average of £2,500. So, the whole process for egg freezing and thawing costs an average of £7,000-£8,000.
What are the benefits of egg freezing?
The clearest benefit is that it allows women to “freeze” the biological age of their eggs, increasing the chances of successful pregnancy if they use those eggs at a later time, says Professor Assaf Ben-Meir, head of IVF at Hadassah Medical Center and chief medical officer at Fairtility.
“This is especially advantageous when done at a younger age, as it typically yields more eggs per retrieval with higher quality which is the main benefit, enhancing the chances of a successful live birth.
“While women may not ultimately need these eggs, the procedure provides peace of mind.”
What are the downsides of egg freezing?
While freezing eggs does “freeze time” in terms of the biological age of the eggs, Ben-Meir says some women don’t take into account that their bodies do keep aging.
“Women will freeze eggs but then might put off family planning for longer. If a person waits until their early 40s, they might find that they cannot get pregnant with their fresh eggs. In this situation, they will count on their frozen eggs – and there is no 100 per cent guarantee for success.”
Women are becoming more proactive about their fertility, say experts
The potential of frozen eggs can vary significantly too, Ben-Meir says, adding that current methods of assessing egg quality are not highly reliable.
“Embryologists make estimations solely based on some morphological characteristics of each oocyte. Most studies show that the predictability of an egg’s potential to result in a live birth based on these parameters alone are low and non-personalised.
“This means that when a patient ultimately wants to use frozen eggs to start a family, she may find that what she initially froze is not enough for her personal plans.”
What does the rise in egg freezing suggest?
Overall, it means that women are becoming aware of and proactive about their fertility earlier in their lives, says Dr Luca Sabatini, consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician and chief medical officer at Apricity.
“They know other women who have been tested and chosen to freeze their eggs, and as a result social egg freezing is becoming more acceptable and routine.”
However, Professor Ben-Meir says if this trend continues, the industry must consider the future implications of storing thousands of unused eggs.
“Healthcare providers will need to make decisions about the management and potential donation of thousands of unused, but viable eggs in the coming years,” he warns.
Have celebrities and social media influencers led to more women freezing their eggs?
While there is no clear data on this, experts believe celebrities and internet personalities have been somewhat responsible for egg freezing’s growing popularity.
“Celebrities and social media figures have likely helped reduce the stigma around fertility care, and encouraged people to be proactive about fertility preservation and care,” says Sabatini.
“Their stories might have brought awareness to the option of egg freezing, which some people may not have considered or even known about previously.”
View this post on Instagram
Paris Hilton has frozen 20 embryos, revealing that she is “waiting” for a daughter
Ben-Meir says an unintended consequence of these stories may be additional pressure for women in their reproductive years.
However, he thinks greater awareness means that women are talking about this earlier and they are better assessing their options.
What should women consider before freezing their eggs?
Dr Lisa Stradiotto, consultant in obstetrics and reproductive medicine at Apricity, says one of the biggest factors women need to consider is the financial cost of freezing and storage. For some women multiple cycles may be required to achieve a enough eggs to give them a good chance of pregnancy later.
“The literature suggests that it would be ideal to freeze around 15-20 eggs to give an 80 per cent chance of successfully yielding a pregnancy.”
However, egg freezing is not a guarantee of future fertility like it is sometimes portrayed, cautions Stradiotto.
“It should rather be viewed as a potential ‘back-up plan’, as life doesn’t always go according to plan.”
Professor Ben-Meir encourages women to consider the reputation of the clinic they are choosing.
“Research and choose a reputable facility for egg freezing. Ask if the facility is using AI in its egg and embryo assessment processes, as these technologies are making egg freezing and IVF processes more accurate and personalised to each patient.”
Softening ageing ovaries could help women remain fertile for longer, early animal research suggests.
Fertility declines with age for several reasons, including poorer egg quality, fewer ovarian follicles and the gradual stiffening of ovarian tissue.
Existing fertility treatments, including hormone therapy and in vitro fertilisation, mainly address hormonal imbalances or help eggs mature or become fertilised.
Scientists are now examining whether changing the physical structure of the ovaries could provide another route for future fertility treatments.
Stuart A. Cook, of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School, published an accompanying commentary on the research.
Researchers led by Shixuan Wang at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, collected healthy ovarian tissue from younger, middle-aged and older women.
They also examined samples from patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, known as PCOS, premature ovarian insufficiency, or POI, and endometriosis.
PCOS is a hormonal condition that can disrupt ovulation. POI occurs when the ovaries stop working normally before the age of 40, while endometriosis causes tissue similar to the womb lining to grow elsewhere in the body.
Tests of protein levels and gene activity found higher levels of the inflammatory protein interleukin-11, or IL-11, in ageing and diseased ovaries.
In laboratory experiments, the researchers exposed ovarian fibroblasts to IL-11. Fibroblasts are cells that produce connective tissue.
The protein caused the cells to produce excess collagen, a structural material that can build up during scarring and make tissue stiffer.
The researchers then genetically modified mice so they could not respond to IL-11. The animals developed less ovarian stiffening and maintained better ovarian function as they aged.
Similar results were seen in mouse models of PCOS and POI caused by chemotherapy.
In the final part of the experiment, older mice and rats were injected with a nanoparticle treatment containing small interfering RNA, or siRNA, designed to switch off IL-11.
The treatment made the animals’ ovaries less stiff and improved fertility.
Pregnancy rates among older mice rose from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, while average litter sizes also increased.
More rats treated with the therapy became pregnant and produced larger litters.
The approach remains highly speculative and will require considerably more research before its safety or effectiveness in women can be established.
However, the researchers said blocking the inflammatory pathway could eventually form the basis of new fertility treatments.
They said: “We propose that anti-IL-11 therapy represents a promising translational strategy for delaying ovarian ageing.”
W Group has opened applications for W Accelerate with Merck KGaA and M Ventures, inviting reproductive and maternal health startups, scaleups and spinouts to pitch for direct access to global pharma partnership and strategic investment.
Selected companies will pitch on 5th October, competing for the chance to accelerate their growth through commercial partnerships, investment, or both.
This is the third time Merck KGaA, a global leader in reproductive health, has partnered with W Group on the programme, which exists to close the innovation and investment gap in women’s health by connecting the sector’s most promising startups directly with the corporates and investors positioned to scale them.
What Merck KGaA and M Ventures are looking for
This year’s call is focused on breakthrough solutions in female infertility, fertility preservation, adenomyosis, endometriosis, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), ovarian insufficiency, preeclampsia and pregnancy comorbidities.
New for this round, applicants choose between three pathways depending on what they need from the programme:
- The Partnership Lane, for companies seeking commercial collaborations and strategic relationships
- The Investment Lane, for founders looking to connect with investors and secure funding to scale
- The Dual Lane, for innovators pursuing both partnership and investment opportunities
How the Accelerate event works
Selected companies get a 1:1 pitch practice session ahead of time, then a private 30-minute session with Merck KGaA and M Ventures leadership on the day itself, small-group sessions with regulatory and investment strategy experts, an “Ask Merck Anything” roundtable, and a VIP networking reception.
Key dates
- Open call launches: 8th July
- Open call closes: 2nd September
- Notification of successful companies: 11th September
- Pitch day: 5th October
Applications are open now at wplatform.typeform.com/to/KGzviBQM.
Fertility
Older women face lower chance of fertility treatment working, even with donor eggs, study finds
IVF success declines with age even when women use young donor eggs, with a marked fall from around 49, research suggests.
The findings challenge the idea that donor eggs can fully “reset” the reproductive clock, although researchers said they should not discourage older couples from trying.
Dr Beatrice Crestani, from an assisted reproduction medical institute in Italy, said reproductive ageing had traditionally been seen mainly as an issue involving the ovaries.
She said replacing older eggs with younger donor eggs was often believed to “reset” the reproductive clock.
Dr Crestani added: “Our findings suggest the picture is more complex.”
The study followed 1,774 women undergoing in vitro fertilisation, or IVF, using donated eggs. IVF involves fertilising an egg in a laboratory before transferring an embryo to the womb.
Women in their mid to late 30s had a 54 per cent chance of becoming pregnant after treatment, compared with around 43 per cent among those aged 49 or older.
Live birth rates fell from 46 per cent to 32 per cent, while miscarriage rates rose from 24 per cent to 38 per cent.
Women aged 49 and older had twice the risk of miscarriage compared with those aged 35 to 40.
Researchers believe changes to the endometrium with age may help explain the difference. The endometrium is the lining of the womb where a fertilised egg or embryo implants and grows.
Although the thickness of the womb lining was similar across the age groups, its condition declined with age.
Researchers said future work might find ways to predict, prevent or improve uterine ageing.
Dr Crestani said: “These findings should not discourage women from pursuing donor-egg treatment, because success rates remain meaningful even at advanced ages.
“However, patients should be counselled that donor eggs cannot completely eliminate the effects of reproductive ageing, particularly beyond 49 years.”
Among women who transferred all their available embryos, the live birth rate was around 80 per cent for those aged 35 to 40 and 62.5 per cent for those aged 49 or older.
Experts stressed that the health of the womb and ovaries differs between women.
There is no legal upper age limit for IVF in the UK, unlike some European countries. Greece has an upper limit of 54.
Women in the UK can donate or share their eggs up to the age of 36.
Regulators ask private UK clinics to assess the welfare of any resulting child and whether the recipient can safely carry a pregnancy.
NHS guidelines recommend offering three IVF cycles to women up to the age of 40 and one cycle to women up to the age of 42.
Patients using donor eggs usually have to fund that part of the treatment themselves.
People conceived using sperm, eggs or embryos from donors registered after 1 April 2005 can request identifying information about their biological donor parent once they turn 18.
The findings are being presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Professor Borut Kovacic, chair-elect of the society, said researchers were trying to better understand the “cross-talk” between an implanting embryo and the womb lining. This refers to the biological signals exchanged during implantation.
He said the age threshold associated with the beginning of a loss of uterine function was unlikely to be absolute.
Professor Kovacic added: “It provides important information for patients and offers a valuable foundation for future research aimed at identifying novel biomarkers of uterine ageing.”
Dr Ippokratis Sarris, chair-elect of the British Fertility Society, called for more research.
He said pregnancies could carry greater risks for older women and recommended thorough health checks and counselling for couples beginning fertility treatment.
Insight1 week agoWomen with PMOS should have annual NHS checks, new guidance says
pain conditions1 week agoTwo “gamechanger” tests set to speed up endometriosis diagnosis on the NHS
Cancer7 days agoThousands of women could avoid painful cancer exam with new AI blood test
Events2 weeks agoKorea’s Femtech Industry Goes Global as Vespexx Hosts Korea Femtech Summit 2026
News2 weeks agoBreast cancer biosensor and low-cost ultrasound startups win women’s health AI competition
News2 weeks agoClue spotlights seven women’s health journeys in new campaign
Entrepreneur6 days agoApplications open for the third W Accelerate with Merck KGaA and M Ventures
Fertility1 week agoOlder women face lower chance of fertility treatment working, even with donor eggs, study finds
Pingback: Everything you need to know before freezing your eggs - Fairtility