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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

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Original poster

Would you freeze more eggs if you were me?

23 replies

onemorelimejelly · 27/07/2018 21:44

I'm single and went through the egg freezing process for the first time at 32 and was lucky to get 8 eggs frozen from that cycle (they retrieved a few more but didn't manage to freeze them all which I believe is fairly common). I'm now 36 and have just completed a second cycle. I have to say I'm a little disappointed that they only got 4 although this will no doubt be on account of my age. The team are excellent at what they do, and very luckily they succeeded in freezing all 4 of the eggs retrieved. My disappointment is probably partly because I didn't really have any idea of what to expect other than they would probably get less eggs than last time. I didn't get the full doctor's consultation at the start of the process since I'd been through it all before. They say that 16 eggs is the optimal number and I now have 12. From a brief bit of research online it seems that by getting an extra 4 eggs I would increase my chance of a live birth from around 60% to around 85%. This seems pretty big.

But what are the chances I would get another 4 eggs if I do another cycle soon? Am I likely to get around 4 since I got 4 this time? And would it be bad for my body to take a third cycle of drugs? Has anyone been in a similar position?

I don't have any family except my parents and when they are gone the idea of being all alone in the world with no family completely terrifies me. I love children and would like nothing more than to have my own family but it just seems so out of reach at the moment. I should say that when I'm doing the cycle I don't date (I do a lot of online dating normally) because I can't drink and I don't find dating easy without wine - I don't think this can be changed by will power! So by freezing more eggs I lose more dating time. I can't work out which is more valuable. Some more eggs (maybe) or more dating. I've been dating for years with little success. But I need to keep at it as I don't want to go it alone (health problems would make raising a child very difficult).

OP posts:

Original poster

onemorelimejelly · 27/07/2018 21:46

That should say "health problems would make raising a child on my own very difficult". It would be possible with a partner though.

OP posts:

kitkatsky · 27/07/2018 21:56

So you haven't tried donor speem and implantation? This is all about finding the perfect sperm to father and rear your child? In that case can't see 12 eggs not being enough as they'll only implant 2 max each time

Original poster

onemorelimejelly · 27/07/2018 22:21

I have a "hidden" disability that would make raising children alone very hard so I'm not keen on going down a sperm donor route. Although I know there's no guarantee that my relationship/marriage will survive even if I find someone who I think is the right man.

I think they have to make embryos before they implant them and they don't all work out. Hence why you need quite a few eggs in an ideal world...

OP posts:

Lauren83 · 27/07/2018 22:28

I definitely would if you can afford too, not all will definitely survive the thaw, fertilise, make it to a blastocyst and then those that do pregnancy rates may be 30-40% with a chance of pregnancy loss too so I think the more you start with the better, I have had 25 eggs used for fertility treatment and from those I had 14 fertilise, out of 7 transferred I got 1 miscarriage and a son born this year so definitely look to get a few more if you can afford to

Original poster

onemorelimejelly · 27/07/2018 22:32

Thanks Lauren. It's scary that it might just not work after so much but it's a chance. If it wasn't for the no drinking/time out from dating I'd probably do it in a heart beat!

Congratulations on your son! Can I ask how old you were and what age you were when the eggs were frozen?

OP posts:

IcanMooCanYou · 27/07/2018 22:32

But Kit, that doesn't mean 12 embryos. We got 21 eggs which resulted in 3 embryos to freeze from last IVF cycle. Obviously that's just one idea of numbers- others will have wildly different results. If it were me, I'd do one more but also maybe start thinking if there's any way you could go it alone. That's a lot of pressure on dating.

Clairetree1 · 27/07/2018 22:33

The success rate with frozen eggs is very very low. If you want a child, I would just go ahead and have one.

ChristmasAccountant · 27/07/2018 22:36

I definitely would if you can. I know it’s a different scenario but when we were having ivf the consultant basically said it’s a numbers game.
We had 33 eggs, 21 fertilised and 12 made it to blastocyst stage. Out of those, one eventually resulted in my first son.

Lauren83 · 27/07/2018 22:38

Sorry I should of said mine were all used for fertility treatment, so they were fertilised at the time, I had my eggs at 29 and then egg donors at 35, 27 and 23

Original poster

onemorelimejelly · 27/07/2018 23:11

Clairetree1, apparently the chance of a live birth is now about 85% if you have 16 eggs frozen before you're 35. I'm 36 but I'm hoping I could achieve something not that far off that rate if I get another cycle in soon. I have a type of disability so I'm really not keen to go it alone. I don't think I could work and do all the child care and keep my health decent.

I'm also wondering if the few gin and tonics I had might have harmed my chances. The first time round they said not to drink at all and I didn't. This time they said I could have the odd glass of wine, just don't get drunk but that no alcohol was better. I was planning on abstaining entirely but I had a few very difficult days and had 3 days where I had gin. Two units on two days and 3 units on a third day. During a 6 week period. Would this make a big difference do you think?

OP posts:

Original poster

onemorelimejelly · 27/07/2018 23:14

I'm kicking myself that I didn't do another cycle at 32. I just thought I'd probably have met someone by now.

OP posts:

Iwantaunicorn · 27/07/2018 23:21

I would do another round if I were you, and could afford it (and stomach it!).

I had 1 round at 31, got 6 eggs out, 4 fertilised and had 2 implanted. I have low ovarian reserve, and if mine hadn’t stuck I was planning on doing another round as soon as they’d let me as I didn’t think I had time on my side - mine dropped quickly in less than 2 years.

The more eggs you have available the more opportunities you have for the future I’d think, but there’s no saying that ttc naturally wouldn’t work immediately for you.

I don’t know about the alcohol side of things, I can’t imagine it’ll make a blind bit of difference!

Original poster

onemorelimejelly · 28/07/2018 00:03

Thanks unicorn. Interesting that the consensus is do another cycle. I do have the money but I'll have to cut some pretty big corners elsewhere. Fingers crossed it's worth it!

OP posts:

Iwantaunicorn · 28/07/2018 01:11

Fingers crossed for you! I think you’re amazing for having done two and considering a third round, I found it to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

There’s next to no scientific evidence about taking co-enzyme q10, but I took it. Read somewhere online that it takes 90 days to make cells so that’s what I did, and the ones that survived I was told were good quality. No idea if the q10 helped or not, but you could try it if you wanted to wait a bit.

Good luck!

Clairetree1 · 28/07/2018 03:56

I was planning on abstaining entirely but I had a few very difficult days and had 3 days where I had gin. Two units on two days and 3 units on a third day. During a 6 week period. Would this make a big difference do you think?

er yes, I think the fact that you were unable to go 6 weeks without alcohol makes a very big difference to your suitability to be a mother

Clairetree1 · 28/07/2018 03:58

I have a type of disability so I'm really not keen to go it alone.

sorry, but if you are not capable of raising a child, you should not be contemplating having one. Partner is irrelevant.

Clairetree1 · 28/07/2018 04:00

I don't believe this 85% figure. I only know one person for whom this has worked, she had her eggs frozen before some sort of medical treatment that left her infertile. I'm not sure how many she had, but she has one child; attempts to have a second failed.

No one else I know has succeeded with frozen eggs.

Lauren83 · 28/07/2018 06:17

Lots of people have children when they need extra support/adaptions to have them, you don't know what OPs hidden disability is but who's to say she should be denied the right to have a family? She has said she wants to wait to try to find a partner to have one with, something could happen to any of us that meant we would struggle to raise them alone

With regards to the drinking it's very unlikely a few drinks would affect egg production, she didn't have a transfer either, the majority of patients stop for their transfer I know lots who drink moderately up until then

Egg freezing is a relatively new thing and lots of people who have stored their eggs haven't used them yet, also a lot who store them for 'insurance' reasons never end up using them as they start their families naturally, also who's to say people haven't used frozen eggs and it's their business so they haven't told you

I know a few people who have used frozen eggs and had babies but many more who have used all their eggs and had none to transfer or no success

I do however agree 85% is very unrealistic and with the risks of thaw, fert, development and failed implantation/aneuploidy/miscarriage rates I wouldn't think it would be anywhere near that

Daisymalone · 28/07/2018 07:26

Do you have a cut off age in mind for meeting someone to use your frozen eggs with? It becomes more difficult to carry a pregnancy to term as you age so if you haven't met someone and got to the having children stage by say, 40, would you then consider going it alone then to improve your chances or draw a line under the whole thing? Also have you considered that if you were successful in having a child, relationships don't always work out so you could end up parenting alone with your disability anyway?

welshweasel · 28/07/2018 07:36

On average 25% of mature eggs will make it to blastocyst stage (day 5). So potentially 3 viable embryos. With each embryo you have a 25-40% chance of pregnancy assuming you don’t have any implantation issues.

Personally at your age if you want to be a mother I’d crack on with donor sperm and at least see how many embryos you can get.

physicskate · 28/07/2018 09:17

I've always heard that embryos have higher success rates of the freeze thaw process than eggs.

I too think 85% is wildly unrealistic give lots of women get that number from an ivf round that is then unsuccessful...

Redfooty · 28/07/2018 09:24

Wow op, good for you. Can I ask how much youve paid for this? It's something I've thought about but dismissed as I assumed too expensive

Don't kick yourself for not doing more at 32. My understanding is that you can only keep eggs 10 years so it's good you've got longer now

physicskate · 28/07/2018 09:36

I'm sure you've read this:

www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/fertility-preservation/egg-freezing/

It seems to have 2% lower rates of success than ivf. At the age your eggs were frozen, the ivf success rate would be no greater than 30%. That's not 30% of eggs making it to embryo but the chance of a baby from a round. Right now you have an average number of eggs from about 1 round...

Egg freezing is not a magic bullet.

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