Embryo freezing

[sadsister23]

I have hypothalamic amenorrhea which is not improving despite all the lifestyle changes I have made so I suspect I will need fertility treatment in order to get pregnant. My partner and I would like a family but we are not ready yet. However, I will be 34 in June and I am conscious that time is not on my side so I am wondering whether embryo freezing would be a good idea rather than having IVF later with poorer quality eggs.

I am finding it hard to find information on how successful this can be. I assume it is not available on the NHS and obviously fertility clinics say how good it is because they want you to spend ££££ with them.

Does anyone have any experience with, or knowledge of, this? How much money would it cost to freeze and then later transfer? From what I can see, it looks like the process of freezing costs around £5500 but I'm sure there are hidden costs.

This whole topic is causing me so much anxiety and stress. I wish the information available was more transparent :(

Hello - I would consult with the GP in the first instance, you should be able to get 1-3 rounds/cycles with the NHS given your age (assuming you are in good health overall).

Embryo freezing is part of IVF and you are right, you should do it asap as the egg quality quickly declines from 35.

I have had 1 cycle on the NHS and subsequently 3 with a private clinic in the UK (~£21k) and 2 abroad (~£10k). These figures do not include medications.

There is a lot of information on this, but understand it is an evolving science and different clinics do things differently.. there is not really a 'right or wrong' approach, it is all very subjective.

This site is very good https://theduff.co.uk/ in explaining the process and may have some information on costing.

@sadsister23 Hi. Not in your situation, but I've done a few rounds of IVF and know they do really strongly push that age is really the biggest contributing factor to success of IVF, so if embryo freezing is an option for you (either NHS or private) I would say it is definitely worth pursuing.

You may wish to consider how certain you are that your current partner is who you will ultimately want to have children with - you have the option of freezing just your eggs, which would give you more options if you were to split from your current partner for any reason. However, there is a much lower survival rate when you defrost eggs than defrosting embryos, so if you are certain, freezing embryos is probably a better way to go for success.

How much it would cost if you went private would really depend on how many rounds of egg collections you would require to freeze enough good quality embryos for later use (you might want to consider if you want to freeze more embryos for siblings for example). The cost of a round of IVF shown on a fertility clinic website will most likely not include medication costs (which could be an additional £1k per round). You and your partner will need some investigations beforehand (sperm analysis, AMH tests, AFC etc etc) and would likely need to pay for at least 1 consultation. You will then have annual storage costs for your embryos. Again the price shown for a frozen embryo transfer likely wont include medication costs (which you may or may not need depending on whether you are suitable for a natural cycle or require a medicated cycle).

As advised above its worth consulting your GP to see if you can get any NHS funding (not sure if this would be available for planned egg freezing) before contacting a private clinic. You may be able to get some basic fertility tests like AMH done by your GP.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do

@blahblahetc thanks so much for your advice and for that link. Did you have IVF on the NHS or just embryo freezing? How did you find good clinics abroad? Was it cheaper to do that even taking into account flights and accommodation? I will definitely speak to my GP.

@2mumlife thank you for explaining. I think I would rather freeze embryos, from my research, egg freezing isn't that successful. I have had my AMH tested and it is high so that is something at least. I wonder why fertility clinics don't include medication costs on their websites, it seems a bit underhand to me.

Embryo freezing is part of IVF as mentioned earlier. Embryos are the product of IVF and if you are lucky you get some to freeze 🙂

I chanced upon a Prague clinic when I was doing my research. Spain and Greece have leading technology, Prague is cheaper and more straightforward for me. Flights and accommodation is how you want to manage really. I did airbnb mostly and try to find cheaper flight options. It’s all worth it for me as the service I find is much better than in the uk.

@blahblahetc thank you :) I wouldn't be ready to transfer an embryo right now so I wonder if the NHS therefore wouldn't fund it for me.

Interesting that Spain and Greece have leading technology and that Prague is a good option. Thank you for your help!

Normally with IVF you would transfer one 'fresh', aka straight away, and then freeze any others to use in the future.

Some people become at risk for OHSS so have to have a 'freeze all' anyway where they don't transfer fresh embryos because their ovaries are too inflamed after egg collection and their body needs to recover. If you have a high AMH chances are they would deem you at risk of OHSS anyway and only allow you to do a freeze all cycle. So embryo freezing is very standard in IVF as others have said above, it forms part of the normal process.

If you have multiple cycles to collect and freeze embryos I think this is called Embryo banking.

Everyone is different and depending on sperm and egg quality, how well you react to the medication and protocol (first round is always a bit trial and error) and pure luck, you could do a cycle and end up with a fair few embryos to freeze or you could end up with zero to freeze. IVF can be brutal.

However if you know you will need it in the future then I would 100% have it sooner rather than later and freeze them younger.

Have a look at your local ICBs funding policy on NHS IVF and what they will offer/what the exclusion criteria is. Everywhere is different. They may stipulate that you need to have been trying naturally for x years before being eligible for nhs funding. It should also provide clarity on if you can go through the cycle and freeze them all.

@sadsister23 The reason they don't include exact medication costs is that the amount and type of medication will depend on your individual circumstances. My clinic gives a price range for expected medication but I don't think all do. There are different types of 'protocols' (medications / ways) of doing IVF, and a clinic would look at your unique circumstances to choose which protocol (for example 'long protocol' / 'short protocol') would be best for you. If you have a higher AMH that may change which protocol is suggested for you and how much medication you require. Also if you're not transferring, you wouldn't be taking progesterone after egg collection to prepare for a transfer, so you wouldn't have the costs associated with that medication for instance.

There are also option to consider, for example whether you would want to be egg donor (if eligible). There is often a different pricing structure for those donating some of their eggs.

There is a lot to think about, so it is worth taking your time to understand all your options.