Everything You Need To Know About Egg Freezing
If you’re in your late twenties or early thirties, chances are there’s been a conversation in the group chat about egg freezing. Someone’s either getting it done, or thinking about it, and we’ve all spotted an influencer or two talking about it. But how much of the facts do you really know?
We caught up with fertility expert and co-founder of Hertility Health, Dr Helen O’Neill, as well as 34-year-old Rachana Ramchand who has undergone the procedure, to chat about what to expect when you’re egg freezing, and why it’s important to educate yourself about your fertility before doing it. Here’s everything you need to know about egg freezing:
What is egg freezing?
Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is it? In simple terms, egg freezing is a procedure that allows women to preserve their fertility by extracting one or more unfertilised eggs from their ovaries to freeze and store them for future use.
Why should you freeze your eggs?
As per the Hertility website, egg freezing has become popular with women who are not ready to have children, but would like to have the option in the future. It’s become an effective way to preserve your fertility if you are worried about your fertility declining naturally or if you have an underlying health condition. For London-based investment manager Rachana Ramchand, who froze her eggs in 2021, the reason she did it is because she wasn’t sure if she wanted kids in the future, but she knew she definitely didn’t want kids right now. “I know that in case I want to go down that path later I won’t face any regrets.”
Jennifer Aniston famously spoke about how she regretted not freezing her eggs, telling Allure in 2022, that she “would’ve given anything” for someone to have told her her to freeze her eggs when she was younger. “Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favour[…]You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.” While we have no proof that it was Aniston who triggered the conversation, in the two years since her interview, egg freezing seems to have surged in popularity around the world. It’s almost like an internet trend that’s managed to make it to real life (#eggfreezing has been used over 170k times on Instagram).
What is the egg freezing process like?
To explain the procedure, O’Neill says, “In a menstrual cycle, typically one egg will be released and wait to be fertilised. With egg freezing, you’re amplifying the follicle-stimulating hormone that’s naturally produced in your body, so that more than just one egg is released and matured.” You give your body hormones to try and mature as many eggs as possible, and then you give a trigger hormone which allows them to be matured. “These hormones are self-injected in your belly and can lead to bruising and if you’re scared of needles this might be a tricky step to navigate,” she explains.
Even if you freeze them for a number of years, depending on them surviving the thawing process, they can be fertilised.
After the hormone treatment, is when you go to the clinic where as many eggs as possible will be aspirated. This is done under mild sedation where you will undergo a transvaginal ultrasound to have a look at how many follicles are in your ovaries. Then a needle will go through the vaginal wall to remove as many eggs as possible. Once they are aspirated, the eggs are passed to an embryologist and frozen in liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees in a process called vitrification, which is basically blast-freezing of your eggs. “It’s very successful as long as the egg is healthy itself. Even if you freeze them for a number of years, depending on them surviving the thawing process, they can be fertilised and used for implantation.”
How much time do you need for the procedure?
The entire process takes two weeks to a month. You’ll have to do preliminary scans and tests before you start, so from the first appointment to the end, it can take up to two months, but the actual procedure is about three weeks.
What are the side effects?
There can be physical and psychological side effects, and they differ from person to person, O’Neill says. “Physically, minor side effects include bruising from the injections and slight swelling around the abdomen. The more severe symptom to look out for is the risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Your ovaries tend to swell because of the overproduction of eggs, which can cause fluid retention in your abdomen. It’s important to identify what is normal pain versus what is OHSS – most people have a little swelling but if you have OHSS you’ll be in severe pain, and feel nauseous and dehydrated. It’s much less prevalent these days though because clinics are aware of the signs to look for.”
The more severe symptom to look out for is the risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS).
For Ramchand, the main side effects were emotional. “Emotionally it can get quite intense. My hormones felt like they were on fire – there were ups and downs, mood swings, and I found myself getting triggered by small things. Someone said something really trivial to me once on a Zoom call and I just switched off my camera and started crying. But the experience is different for different people, this was just me, I know people who have been completely fine emotionally.”
Should everyone be freezing their eggs?
“Egg freezing has become one of those go-to things that women are being told to do which I disagree with,” says O’Neill. “It’s almost moved beyond giving yourself reproductive autonomy – many women are doing it in the absence of understanding why you should be freezing your eggs. There’s this become a real flippancy to egg freezing.”
I find it hard that we would normalise egg freezing over family forming – that seems to be where we’ve gotten to.
“Do I think everybody should freeze their eggs? Absolutely not,” she says. “In the absence of true, informed, reasoning women are just doing it because there’s this ongoing narrative that you need to. There is this idea that freezing eggs is the answer to everything. A conversation needs to be had about your fertility prior to egg freezing to say is this really for you and how long do you truly intend not to have a baby for? I find it hard that we would normalise egg freezing over family forming – that seems to be where we’ve gotten to.”
When is the right time to freeze your eggs?
“The “when” is just as important as the “why” should you freeze your eggs. The average age of women freezing their eggs is 39 which can unfortunately be far too late. It seems to be an afterthought – “What do I do now? I have to freeze my eggs.” In your early 30s, if you are not in a relationship and don’t see yourself being in one for a while, I think it’s a really good security. Doing it much later isn’t a great idea – the success rates the older you are aren’t very good. But there is no set age to freeze your eggs.”
The “when” is just as important as the “why” should you freeze your eggs.
“Based on evidence from the hundred thousand women who have done a Hertility test – we have 25-year-olds who have no ovarian reserve and we have 30-year-olds who have a high ovarian reserve. It’s important to understand your own ovarian reserve and fertility. That is why we built Hertility. I think a lot of soul-searching should happen before you do it, but a lot of women also put it off for too late. Track your ovaries over your calories, and do a test every year if you’re worried about your ovaries declining.”
Track your ovaries over your calories, and do a test every year if you’re worried about your ovaries declining.
How can you test your fertility?
Hertility is a diagnostic test done from the comfort of your home that uses a fingerprint blood test. “We have taken into account all of the international diagnostic criteria and guidelines for over eighteen different conditions relating to women’s reproductive health,” says O’Neill. “We look at your overall health, symptoms, biometrics, menstrual patterns, age and all of your menstrual cycle hormones, thyroid and any others that could be related to an individual’s pathology. We give you an overall assessment of your reproductive health.”
We give you an overall assessment of your reproductive health.
The kits include an online health assessment, and based on the answers to the questions you are sent a kit at home that will test the hormones that are most relevant to you.
The test is done on the third day of your menstrual cycle, and within ten days you will have all your results beautifully presented. Everything is reviewed by a gynaecologist and there’s an app that enables you to track your symptoms and book additional tests if you need them. From there you can book to speak to a fertility advisor or a gynaecologist or book to go through an egg-freezing journey. “It’s really an end-to-end clinical service for every woman’s health needs.”
How much does egg freezing cost?
“Egg freezing is not cheap,” says Ramchand, who had the procedure done at the London Egg Bank. “It’s an expensive process depending on where you are. In the UK, from the research I’ve done it’s about £4,000 and different clinics have different schemes.” This is why fertility kits like Hertility which go for £149 are a great option to test your reproductive health before you leap into making such a huge expense on a process that might not be successful if you’re ovarian reserve is low or you have other fertility issues which can be identified with the kit. “Part of why I wanted to build something is so that everyone can afford it- not every woman can afford egg freezing,” says O’Neill.
What is the success rate of egg freezing?
“Egg freezing is very successful if you are freezing a healthy egg,” O’Neill says. “The success of egg freezing depends on your health, the circumstances and the clinic. The success rates are very individual and need to be into account with your overall health – the healthier you are the better. ”
22% of women trying to conceive continue to vape which Hertility research shows causes premature ovarian ageing.
But 22% of women trying to conceive continue with habits like vaping which Hertility research shows causes premature ovarian ageing. “Vaping significantly reduces your ovarian reserve. The usual vices – vaping, drinking, and smoking have all been associated with reduced fertility. It’s important to be mindful of the impact they can have on your fertility.”
“Everybody is different,” says O’Neill. “I built Hertility to enable women to have an accurate evidence-based date-informed test that would allow them to have insights into their own fertility and to how and if they might struggle to conceive. It is my absolute goal that every woman check her fertility [with Herility] prior to ever needing IVF or egg freezing. This should be an informed decision.”
This article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. All views and opinions expressed are the writer’s own.
Find out more about egg freezing here.
