Egg Freezing

The chance of conceiving naturally declines as we age because the amount and quality of the eggs in the ovaries diminish over time. Freezing eggs in your twenties or early thirties ensures that your younger and better quality eggs are available for you to use at a later time, should fertility treatment become necessary.

Egg freezing is a process where your eggs are collected from your ovaries and then frozen and stored. At a future date, if you have problems conceiving, you will be able to use your young eggs to try for children. Egg Freezing does not guarantee a future family, but it gives reassurance that you are giving yourself the best possible chance of conceiving in the years ahead when the time is right. Egg freezing can alleviate the pressure surrounding important life choices, like finding a partner, pursuing a career, education or even travel.

Ideally, you should freeze your eggs in your late twenties or early thirties. Egg freezing does not decrease your chance of conceiving naturally, but it provides reassurance that if you have trouble conceiving later, you have your younger eggs available to you to use.

If you need to use the eggs in later years, the eggs will be thawed, fertilised with sperm from a partner or donor, and cultured to become embryos. The embryo(s) will be transferred to your uterus to produce a pregnancy. The younger you are when you freeze your eggs, the higher chance they have to produce a pregnancy.

While many countries limit the amount of time eggs can be stored, in Ireland, there is currently no limit. You will be able to use the eggs for an embryo transfer up to the age of 50, in discussion with the clinical team.

The treatment process starts with your menstrual cycle. You will take daily hormones to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple follicles. When the ultrasound shows the follicles are the right size, the eggs are collected. The eggs are then vitrified (frozen) and stored at a very low temperature.

This will depend on your preferences and your fertility test results. You will discuss the likely number of eggs the consultant would expect to retrieve from your ovaries and make a plan together. You may be advised to have another cycle to bank enough eggs (ideally 15-20 eggs) for the optimum chance of success later.

You will need to attend some short ultrasound appointments in the clinic as part of your treatment. You will need to take a day off for egg collection, but your normal routine can return the day after the egg collection procedure.