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Egg Freezing
Egg freezing provides a unique opportunity to secure your current fertility and offers options to start a family in the future. Over the past decade egg freezing has become a popular and reliable treatment and has reached a stage where success rates for fertility treatment using frozen eggs are comparable with those using fresh eggs.
Why should I freeze my eggs?
Egg freezing is a frequently used method of fertility preservation. There are several reasons why you may consider freezing your eggs:
- Circumstances: You may not yet be ready to start your family, haven’t met the right partner, or haven’t decided if you want to have children. You may not be ready to make this decision now, but want to have the option available in the future
- Your age: your age may make you wonder if it would be a smart choice to freeze your eggs now for use in the future
- After a medical diagnosis: ahead of medical treatment that may cause potential damage to your eggs, you may wish to undergo fertility preservation
- Prior to gender-affirming treatment
Egg freezing provides the perfect opportunity to give yourself more time and options when thinking about your future and planning a family.
If you are considering egg freezing, our Fertility MOT is the perfect place to start. Our Fertility MOT includes several tests to assess your current fertility status. This is followed by a consultation with one of our specialists to discuss the results of your tests. Our doctors have years of experience and can provide you with all the information you need prior to starting treatment.
When should I freeze my eggs?
When you are born, your body contains all the eggs you will ever have. Throughout life, our body uses these eggs and as a result, your fertility decreases as you age. Your fertility is represented by your egg quality and egg quantity.
- Better egg quality leads to a greater chance of pregnancy. Egg quality is the proportion of genetically healthy eggs you have. In general, the younger you are the more genetically healthy eggs available.
- Higher egg quantity leads to more eggs available for storage and potentially fewer rounds of ovarian stimulation required.
To maximise your chances of a successful pregnancy using your frozen eggs, the optimum time to freeze your eggs is in your 20s to early 30s, as this is when your egg quality and quantity are at their best. It is absolutely possible to freeze your eggs at a later stage in life, however, studies have found that pregnancy rates are lower using eggs that are frozen over the age of 35 y. It is important to remember that your fertility level is completely unique. Your consultant will be able to advise you on whether egg freezing is a suitable option for you.
Egg freezing success
The most important measurement of success after egg freezing is your chance of pregnancy in the future. However, the success of egg freezing can be defined in several ways.
- Quality and quantity of eggs frozen
- Survival rates of eggs post thawing
- Expected number of embryos available for transfer
- Live birth per embryo transferred
- Cumulative live birth rate
At London Women's clinic, we are proud to achieve UK-leading success rates for Egg Freezing, as shown in our results for patients under 35.
Why London Women's Clinic?
We are world-class experts
Our fertility specialists have over 20 years of experience in fertility treatment and preservation and are dedicated in providing you with the highest level of care. Our doctors have trained across the world to become experts in their field and bring together their knowledge to provide you with the best care.
We freeze more eggs than any other clinic in the UK
Our laboratory has frozen and thawed more eggs than any other clinic in the UK and was a pioneering clinic in bringing the technique of vitrification into everyday use. Thanks to our large donor egg bank these numbers continue to increase, and our laboratory team have become highly experienced and skilled in handing frozen eggs, leading to our superior success rates.
We provide personalised care
We understand that egg freezing is different to undergoing traditional fertility treatment, such as IVF. That is why we have a dedicated egg freezing team, including your personal treatment coordinator, who will be on hand to guide you through your treatment journey.
The Egg Freezing process
- Fertility MOT – Our fertility MOT is an essential step in your egg freezing journey. The pelvic ultrasound scan and anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) blood test, provide a greater understanding of your current ovarian reserve and fertility status.
- Consultation – During your consultation, your doctor will review your medical history and the results of your MOT assessments. They will then discuss treatment options and confirm if egg freezing is suitable for you.
- Treatment planning – You will meet with your dedicated treatment coordinator who will confirm your next steps and ensure you have all the relevant requirements in place to start treatment.
- Nurse Consultation – Your nurse will explain your medications and how to administer them, as well as answer any questions you may have about your treatment.
- Hormonal Stimulation & Monitoring – You will start taking hormonal medication to stimulate your ovaries. Regular ultrasound scans will be used to monitor follicle development and confirm when you are ready for your egg collection.
- Egg collection – The egg collection procedure takes place under sedation and takes around 30 minutes to perform. During the egg collection, a highly skilled doctor will use ultrasound guidance to collect eggs from the follicles in your ovaries.
- Freezing & Storage – Our embryologists will carefully freeze your eggs using a technique called vitrification. The frozen eggs will be stored in liquid nitrogen until you decide you are ready to use them.
- Follow-up consultation – The follow up consultation with your doctor will review how successful your egg freezing cycle has been and provides an opportunity to discuss any further treatment you may wish to have.
What comes after Egg Freezing
Treatment
If you decide to use your frozen eggs you will need to undergo a thaw and fertilise cycle using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Before going ahead with a thaw cycle, you will have a consultation with one of our doctors who will confirm the details of your treatment plan, including how many of your frozen eggs to thaw.
London Women’s Clinic has outstanding post egg thaw survival rates, so you can be reassured that your eggs are safe with us.
Storage
Due to recent changes in UK legislation, frozen eggs can now be kept in storage for up to 55 years. However, you will need to review your consent for storage every 10 years to confirm if you want to continue with storing your eggs. At London Women’s Clinic you can pay for your storage costs via a monthly direct debit making the management of your egg storage as easy as possible.
Discarding
If you decide that you no longer want to keep your frozen eggs you can opt to discard them. Some will choose to do this after completing their family naturally. Alternatively, you may also have the opportunity of donating these eggs, either for use in treatment by others, or for research and training. Your treatment coordinator will be able to provide you with more information on donation to research and training if you choose to pursue this.
The cost of egg freezing
London Women’s Clinic offers a single egg freezing cycle package and packages for subsequent cycles at a reduced cost. Following a Fertility MOT, a fertility specialist will recommend the best course of action for you. This will be dependent on your results and medical history. As well as the freezing process itself, medication and future storage is also chargeable. For more information on the price of egg freezing, please visit our prices page or contact the clinic.
Egg Freezing FAQs
The number of egg freezing cycles needed will need depend on your individual level of fertility. In general, younger women have a higher ovarian reserve and a greater proportion of genetically healthy eggs, and therefore more viable eggs will be collected per cycle and the less cycles you are likely to need.
Most women will reach their desired number of eggs to freeze in 1 – 3 treatment cycles. As part of your MOT and consultation, your doctor will be able to advise you on how many eggs they would expect you to freeze.
Yes, you can start a treatment cycle immediately after completing your previous cycle. Our dedicated egg freezing team will be able to confirm if this is suitable for you, based on how you reacted to the hormonal medication in your previous cycle. However, most patients will leave a month between cycles.
No, if you are taking hormonal contraception, including the oral contraceptive pill, Mirena coil, or implant these will need to be stopped or removed ahead of treatment. However, it is possible to have your MOT whilst on hormonal birth control.
Non-hormonal contraception, such as the copper coil can remain in place throughout your treatment.
If you have any concerns, these can be discussed during your initial consultation.
No, freezing your eggs will not affect your fertility. In your natural cycle, each month multiple eggs are developed with one mature egg ovulating. The rest of these developing eggs will be absorbed into the body. During the stimulation phase of your egg freezing treatment, the hormonal medication will stimulate your ovaries and allow us to preserve the eggs that will otherwise have been lost that month.
The legal limit for storing frozen eggs and embryos is 55 years. There is no evidence that the quality or viability of frozen eggs decreases over time. You can withdraw your consent to storage at any time if you wish to remove your eggs from storage.
Egg freezing is a low-risk medical treatment. However, as with any medical procedure, there are possible side effects and risks associated with this.
The hormonal medications used in treatment have side effects including feeling bloated, feeling tired or more emotional, tender breasts or a headache.
After your egg collection procedure, there is a small risk of developing Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), however, this is rare in egg freezing cycles. Your safety is our main concern during treatment and suitable precautions will be taken to adjust your treatment is we think you are at risk.
The egg collection procedure itself carries a small risk (<1%) of infection or bleeding. You will be fully informed of this risk during your consultation.
Yes, it is still possible to freeze eggs if you have a low AMH. However, your expected outcome is influenced by multiple individual factors that you can discuss with your doctor.
Our dedicated egg freezing team and your treatment coordinator will be able to provide you with guidance on nutrition and exercise for before, during and after treatment, this includes maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This often includes not smoking, having a healthy diet, and exercising regularly. We would also recommend starting a preconception supplement containing folic acid and Vitamin D ahead of treatment.
Following your egg collection procedure you will be able to return to your normal routines the next day. However, we recommend that you take the day off work on the day of your egg collection procedure so that you are fully rested.
Yes. Many women with PCOS may want to freeze their eggs to increase their chances of having children in the future.
Our doctors will be able to discuss this in more detail during your initial consultation.
Yes, you can freeze your eggs if you have fibroids. Depending on the size and location, fibroids may impose a problem during conception and your doctor may advise you to have these removed. However, for fertility preservation treatment, such as egg freezing, it is rare to need to have your fibroids removed. Every individual case is different, and your doctor will be able to provide more detailed advice during your consultation.
Unfortunately, egg freezing is not usually provided by the NHS unless it is for medical reasons. Usually, egg freezing is only funded by the NHS ahead of medical treatments that may affect your fertility, such as chemotherapy. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have varying policies on which services are funded, this is dependent on the area you live. If you are interested in finding out what services your local CCG provides, you can reach out to them directly or contact your GP.
Yes, although you can stay at your original LWC for all aspects of your treatment, you may decide that you want to move your stored eggs to another LWC location or another clinic for treatment.
You can transport eggs, embryos, and sperm both in and out of the UK. Our transport team will be on hand to advise you throughout to ensure the process as smooth as possible.