Egg Freezing

[NikkiSey]

Hey! This is my first time on Mumsnet and I wanted to reach out to see if anyone has any advice/experience on Egg Freezing. I am 37 and have been looking in to this procedure. I had the AMH and Ultra sound and I have a good reserve for my age, 17. I have the money to do it but I can't seem to find any solid statistics on whether its worth it. I've been looking online and on the HFEA website, the general consensus is that the chances of getting pregnant from your frozen eggs is very low. Does anyone have any success stories or any words of advice. I'm very confused on what the best thing to do is. Thanks so much x

[Mamabear12]

I have only read/heard negative things. Is the reason you are considering is because you have not met mr right? I think chances are higher if the eggs are fertilised.

[thislido]

What's your timeline? Are you anticipating using them with a partner or going it alone? If it's the latter then IVF with donor sperm and freezing the resulting embryos is another option. Embryos tend to survive the freezing and defrosting better. But obviously you can't then use a future partner's sperm.

I see the HEFA website says 18% success rate per cycle for frozen eggs which is low but not massively different to the rate for frozen embryos or normal IVF for someone your age (23%) for both.

What is pretty certain is your egg quality will decline, hence the IVF success rates are lower than 18% in almost all cases for any age group older than your current one.

If you do leave it then another option further down the line would be to use a donor egg, so you could think about how you'd feel about that.

Is it worth it? Only you can answer that, that's why there are no 'solid statistics'! I'd start with asking can you afford enough cycles for a decent chance of success (i.e. enough egg collection cycles to gather sufficient eggs given the proportion that will survive - the clinic should give you an idea of how many - plus 5 or 6 implantation attempts given the 18% success rate), whilst knowing that it might not work. And if you want more than one child can you afford to double that amount?

If you can afford it, definitely want to have children, but don't want to have them yet then it may be the only way you can have them with your own eggs, if that matters to you, but you won't ever know for sure unless you wait several years and try conceiving naturally. And if you freeze them it's not an absolute insurance policy.

[thislido]

My only caution over the 18% figure is that it isn't broken down by age - if it's an average fro all ages then you might want to assume it would be a bit lower for you.

In terms of making a decision, I found it helpful to really spend a lot of time imagining in detail what my life would be with and without children. I also spent some time time reading positive accounts of not having children, which I would recommend whatever you decide!

[LividLaughLove]

I would turn at least half into embryos with donor sperm.

[itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted]

If you were in your twenties I would say freeze them but AMH is not an indicator of egg quality and is really only useful to gauge how well or not you might respond to ivf medication.
If your freezing them because your single I would perhaps freeze half and fertilise half with donor sperm and at least get some to blastocyst stage. That gives you options at least?
I have similar AMH and was 35 only got 3 average embryos to freeze out of 14 eggs fertilised with DH sperm via ICSI - I've known couples get none? It would be heartbreaking to think you've got this back up frozen somewhere only to find that when you meet someone you don't get any to blast stage anyway? X

[NikkiSey]

yeah same here. I have a boyfriend but it's a new relationship. I was thinking about freezing my eggs before I met him because of my age.

[NikkiSey]

Thanks so much for your message. It means a lot that you took the time to write such a detailed response. My reasoning for doing it, is to give me a better chance of having a child with the future father of my child, by using my own eggs. It won't be treated as a back-up but rather a last chance saloon situation. It's just working out if the success rate of it actually working is worth it. That's what I'm getting stuck on.

[subzerooocyte]

I am at the same stage you're at, but I found that The London Women's Clinic (or Fertility Plus) has a 50% success rate from frozen eggs. I am going through with it, I'm 35, no significant other at the moment and have some savings I want to use for this. I think it's a great option. There may be more technology in a couple of years that makes a higher success rates with pregnancies from frozen eggs, i would say go for it if you have the money.

[LanguageTeacher]

Hi there, I have a success story to tell: I froze my eggs at the age of 39/40 because I had no partner. I got 20 eggs collected in 2 cycles. Three years later, now with an amazing partner, we fertilised them and although, against all odds, only 8 survived the defreeze and of those only two developed into blastocysts, we are currently 23 weeks pregnant. I did go through years of terrible doubts and worries and having my eggs frozen didn’t change all of that, because a life without children would almost not have seemed worth living. I think it’s good advice to use donor sperm now for half of them and get at least some blastocysts now.

[lucyroseannie]

Hi ladies,
I found this thread while researching a feature for the Evening Standard and hope no one minds me asking to pick your brains? I'm today writing a feature on some of the exact issues mentioned here - the decision of women to freeze their eggs, and the fairly low success rate despite high cost and emotional investment. I'm really looking to talk to a someone for who it worked (as in, was able to give them a baby) and someone for who it unfortunately didn't (eggs didn't defrost correctly, or another issue). Would anyone be happy to chat to me, or know anyone that might? With another spike in freezing, I'm trying to write something that will help women with what sounds like can be a very difficult decision.
Thanks in advance!
Lucy

[lucyroseannie]

hi @LanguageTeacher - might you be interested in chatting to me? See below detail! Thanks

[LanguageTeacher]

Hi Lucy,
Yes, I‘d be happy to chat with you. Can you PM me?

[lucyroseannie]

Sure! That's fab, thanks.

[beachywalks]

Very interested to read the article @lucyroseannie. The stats seem either out of date or clinics are less than clear on details. It is still so new so fewer women have come back to use them. Also age is a huge factor- 35 year old eggs are better quality than 40 year old eggs, and the fact that ideally you need 20 eggs so potentially 3 x cycles at a cost of....4k+ per cycle, then the cost of what you do with them later.

Grappling with making the decision aged 40.

[lucyroseannie]

Thanks @beachywalks.. has been fascinating speaking to the women who have chosen to about their various experiences. I'll send a link when I have one in case you'd like to check it out! L

[RosieReturns]

@LanguageTeacher Hi - I am curious where you did your successful egg freezing process? I am looking to do the same, but only did one cycle and very worried about low chance of success :-(
Thanks

[LanguageTeacher]

Hi RosieReturns,
At Glasgow Centre of Reproductive Medicine