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Everything to know about freezing your eggs or embryos
More and more women are waiting to have children, with around 20% having their first child after the age of 35. Unfortunately, maternal age is also a cause of fertility problems. Freezing eggs or embryos allows you to preserve your fertility at its present state, so you can plan for a family in the future—when you’re ready.
You may want to consider freezing your eggs or embryos if you are:
- Undecided about future children
- Currently focused on other life events
- Still searching for the right partner
- Undergoing surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy
- Showing signs of early menopause
- Being deployed overseas in the US military
- Surgically transitioning from female to male
How it works
To freeze eggs or embryos—called cryopreservation—you’ll go through a process called controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), during which your body will be stimulated to produce multiple eggs. After the eggs are retrieved, they will either be frozen right away, or fertilized with sperm to create embryos before being frozen, in a process called in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
When you’re ready to become pregnant in the future, your eggs or embryos will be thawed. If you’ve frozen eggs, they will be fertilized in a lab with sperm from your male partner or donor before being transferred into your uterus. If you’ve frozen embryos, they will be transferred right away.
FERTILITY PRESERVATION AT A GLANCE
Length of cycle:14-16 days | Total doctor's visits:5-7 |
Medications needed:5-6 | In-office procedures for female:1 |
Blood workup:5-6 | Medication type:Tablet, injection |
Length of time medications may be taken:8-14 days | Ultrasounds:5-6 |
Labs required:Endocrinology (blood), cryopreservation (freezing), embryology (embryo), if needed | |
Ranges in this chart are estimated and may vary depending on each patient’s medical history and physician’s recommendations.
FERTILITY PRESERVATION AT A GLANCE
Length of cycle:14-16 days | Total doctor's visits:5-7 | Medications needed:5-6 | In-office procedures for female:1 | Blood workup:5-6 | Medication type:Tablet, injection |
Length of time medications may be taken:8-14 days | Ultrasounds:5-6 | Labs required:Endocrinology (blood), cryopreservation (freezing), embryology (embryo), if needed | |||
Ranges in this chart are estimated and may vary depending on each patient’s medical history and physician’s recommendations.
Success rates
The success of IVF using frozen eggs and embryos depends on many factors, including:
- Your age and reproductive health at the time of cryopreservation
- The cryopreservation process your lab used
- How well the eggs or embryos survive the thawing process
- Variables during the IVF process, such as the quality of sperm used to fertilize the egg and the health of your uterus at transfer
It’s important to note that while the egg freezing process has seen many improvements over the past decade, pregnancy rates are still higher with frozen embryos than with frozen eggs.
What women can expect in a cycle
The entire process can take less than a month to complete. Some women may need to undergo more than one ovarian stimulation cycle to retrieve an adequate number of eggs for freezing. Your doctor can help determine the exact number needed.
