Egg freezing

Who needs egg freezing?

Egg freezing is available to women whose capacity to produce eggs is becoming limited, other than from the natural ageing process. Some treatments for cancer and other serious conditions may affect the store of eggs in the ovaries or the function of the ovaries themselves. Egg freezing before such treatment takes place may make it possible for women to have children using their own eggs*.

Women who suffer from any condition that may lead to premature ovarian failure, and as a result infertility, may also consider egg freezing.

Finally, egg freezing may be used as an emergency procedure for couples undergoing IVF, if the male partner is unable to provide sperm at the time of treatment.

In order to collect enough eggs to freeze, women must undergo drug treatment to stimulate their ovaries, in the same way as women undergoing IVF treatment. This takes two to five weeks.

The eggs are then collected under general anaesthetic or sedation. Only eggs that are mature and ready to be fertilised, can be frozen.

When the eggs are required for treatment, they are thawed and fertilised using ICSI in order to give the maximum chance of fertilisation. However, you must bear in mind that freezing eggs does not guarantee future successful fertility treatment.

You may legally store your eggs for ten years, but under certain circumstances this can be extended to 55 years.

It is necessary to stimulate the ovaries so that enough eggs develop for freezing. In some cases there is a risk that the drugs involved will make the cancer worse, in which case egg freezing would not be possible.

In some areas funding is available for fertility preservation. Your GP or oncologist should be able to discuss this with you. However, you need to be aware that even if funding is available for egg freezing, there is no guarantee that funding will be available for treatment using those frozen eggs.