Egg freezing clinic experiences/recommendations or suggestions for anywhere else I might be able to find reliable recommendations

[SarahR71]

Hi everyone

I’ve been trying to find information about clinics that do egg freezing but haven’t had much luck due to confusing messages from the clinics and a general lack of transparency. I’m under some time pressure and finding it difficult to work out which clinics are good in terms of how they take care of their patients and general outcomes.

I’ve found out a couple of things on mumsnet eg “eggs are vulnerable to mechanical failures such as defrosting or poor storage”! and possible negative health effects due to treatment…

It would be great to hear from anyone who has had personal experience or knows someone who has. To get a recommendation if possible and know which clinics to avoid. Or maybe some pointers to somewhere where I can get recommendations?

Thanks

Firstly go for a clinic that is relatively easy for you to get to - there will be a few visits during treatment and they will usually be mornings so a long journey can make this tricky.
Secondly, egg freezing is relatively new, so there is a lack of data on thawing success and pregnancy rates, if this is the lack of transparency you are talking about. For example, the clinic where I am does around 200 social egg freezes per year, but last year did 12 cycles of egg warming from own eggs (I.e. not donor eggs).
UK clinics are highly regulated and most use techniques etc from a small range of companies so you are not likely to see a big difference in success rates, so I would go with a clinic which seems the most suitable for you - in terms of location, cost and how responsive they are to you enquiries etc.
Go direct to clinics, avoid companies like Apricity which work with lots of clinics as they have nothing extra to offer someone like you who wants a very straightforward type of treatment.
hope this helps

Thanks, that’s very helpful. I was thinking of maybe the Lister or London Women’s Clinic

I appreciate the reply. My daughter asked me to research this for her and I haven’t been much use. I think she thought she had a lot of time to sort this out (she is very busy as she’s moving abroad soon and has the sort of job that would make having a baby impossible, at least in the next few years). I’ve found it difficult to get answers and to work out if there are any clinics to avoid, any that are particularly good. Your reply is reassuring.

As an example of confusing messages/lack of transparency - on the ARGC website, in the egg freezing section, it has a success rates link which has a comparison table. It shows that ARGC has the highest success rate out of 22 well known clinics (76% for under 35s).

I liked the sound of ARGC as they sound like patient health is a priority:
“As with conventional IVF, there is a small risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation during the treatment. At the ARGC, however, we pride ourselves in carefully managing stimulation which substantially reduces this risk”.
So I emailed them for extra clarification on egg freezing success rates. This is the reply I received:
“The success rate of using frozen eggs will depend on the age of the woman when she froze the eggs. We do many egg freezing cycles here but not may egg thawing cycle so we do not have enough data to issue our own statistics for this procedure. We refer patients to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority website who collate the statistics for all clinics undertaking egg freezing and thawing in the UK. The success rate they quote for egg thawing cycles in women under the age of 35 when they froze their eggs is around 17.5% and you can check this on their website”.
So the figure of 76% is quite misleading given the success rate link is on the egg freezing page.
I think if I were doing this for myself and she wasn’t moving abroad soon I would feel less pressure to find a “good” clinic/consultant.

The Lister and London Women’s both are long established clinics - it may be a case of who can see your daughter soonest if her time is limited.
ive heard good things about Evewell too, not sure if that is near to you?

Thanks, that’s reassuring. She works in central London so all three are convenient.

We used Evewell for our IVF and they have been excellent, and good success where other clinics failed.

However, I think it's important anyone considering egg freezing understands its an amazing option, but it's not a guarantee of having a baby. Egg freezing is painted as the miracle Bernard's watch for fertility, and it's such a dangerous narrative for women who really want children.

I've had 2 egg retrievals, 25 eggs in total, and only 2 of those embryos have worked. The other 23 failed.

If someone is freezing because of their job rather than infertility, hopefully their success rate would be better, but of course you never know if you have infertility issues until you try.

Thanks very much for your reply and for the recommendation 👍
I understand egg freezing is still a long shot and I appreciate you making this clear (I think it needs to be made clearer generally especially with big tech firms offering to freeze employees eggs as if it makes delaying having children straightforward).
My daughter has mentioned possibly wanting children so she thinks it makes sense to freeze her eggs now (just turned 30) especially since her job and other things make it impossible at the moment.
I was a youngish mum (20s) and it was almost frowned upon at the time but we women have quite a short window to have children and as you alluded to there are no guarantees. I think even the initial test (ovarian reserve?) will provide useful information. Thanks for your help