Egg-freezing is becoming a more popular option amongst women who perhaps aren’t at the right time in their life to have a child, or simply haven’t met Mr Right – but now it seems that parents are more than willing to help try to secure their future as grandparents.
According to reports from America, more and more parents are funding the cost for their daughters to freeze their eggs as women delay motherhood due to career ambitions or not meeting the right partner.
The American Fertility Association recently reported that generally by the age of 35, a woman has lost 95% of the eggs in her ovaries, with the remainder ageing and deteriorating in quality as she gets older.
So should you freeze your eggs and is it right for you? It’s true that fertility generally declines from age 30 and even more sharply from age 35 upwards, but if you freeze your eggs – the sooner the better - you can help to ensure that your eggs remain good quality ready for when you want a family.
It’s important to remember though that every woman responds differently to the procedures needed for egg-freezing. Your treatment initially follows the same path as IVF. Your ovaries will be stimulated using drugs to produce more mature eggs than normal, and you will be carefully monitored throughout this process.
You then undergo an egg retrieval procedure, where eggs are removed under Local anaesthetic and oral sedation. These are then frozen and stored by us ready for when you wish to use them.
But not everyone responds well to the stimulating drugs. You may not produce many mature eggs, or you may be at risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) which is when the ovaries produce too many eggs.
In order for any collected eggs to be used in the future, they must also be able to withstand the freeze/thaw process and not all eggs will survive this.
So remember that freezing your eggs doesn’t give you a cast-iron guarantee you’ll be able to get pregnant in future – as you can see various factors depend on the success of using your eggs, not least the age you are when you actually undergo the procedure. The younger you are, the younger your eggs are the therefore the better quality they will be.
There is lots to consider if you’re thinking about egg-freezing, so if it’s something you’re interested in why not call us for an informal chat on 0161 300 2737. You can find out more about what egg-freezing entails here.
Last updated: 26th February 2021
