Egg Freezing 101

If you, like us, have ever nodded along as someone mentioned “egg freezing,” but had no idea what the process actually entails, this article is for you. We explain the mechanics behind what happens, who typically freezes their eggs, and why they chose to do so.

What is Egg Freezing?

TL;DR: it’s insurance for your eggs. For as long as you keep them frozen, you will have quality eggs available to use when and how you want! Technically known as oocyte cryopreservation, egg freezing is a method to preserve one’s eggs at their current quality, pausing the effect of our biological clock. The process involves retrieving eggs from your ovaries and freezing them without fertilization.

Because the quantity and quality of our eggs declines as we age (read “What Happens to Your Fertility Over Time” for a refresher), women who wait to have children until later in life can face challenges getting pregnant naturally. While egg freezing is not a guaranteed path to pregnancy and not for everyone, the procedure can significantly increase your chances of success if you choose to get pregnant at an older age, especially if you freeze your eggs at a younger age.

Who Opts for Egg Freezing?

Women freeze their eggs for many reasons, a few being: life circumstances like finding the right partner, career planning, or health conditions that may affect fertility.

The Egg Freezing Process: Planning for Kids on Your Timeline

Alright, down to business. The egg freezing process is quite involved, but the entire process can be wrapped up in about 3 weeks.

• Consultation & Testing: Your first meeting will be with a fertility specialist. Expect lots of questions about your health, lifestyle, and family planning dreams. You'll also undergo tests to assess your ovarian reserve (your # of viable eggs) and overall reproductive health.

• Ovarian Stimulation: Before the freezing procedure, you'll take hormone injections for about 10-14 days to encourage your ovaries to produce multiple eggs instead of the usual one per month.

• Monitoring: Throughout stimulation, you'll visit the clinic for ultrasounds and blood tests every 1-2 days. This helps the team track how your eggs are developing and adjust your treatment as needed.

• Retrieval: Once your eggs are ready, it's showtime. The retrieval is a relatively quick procedure done under sedation, where a specialist uses a needle (guided by ultrasound) to collect eggs from your ovaries.

• Freezing: Your eggs are then fast-frozen in a process called vitrification at subzero temperatures. It's like cryopreservation but for your potential future babies.

After the Freeze: What Happens Next?

Post-freeze, your eggs are stored in a super-cold cryotank until you're ready to use them. When that day comes, the eggs are thawed, fertilized with sperm (in a lab, through a process called in vitro fertilization (IVF)), and the resulting embryos can be transferred to a waiting uterus.

Storage & Retrieval: Ensuring Your Eggs are Ready When You Are

Your frozen eggs can be stored for many years, although specific regulations can vary. When you decide you’re ready, the retrieval and fertilization process is carefully timed to your body's cycle. If you froze your eggs at age 25 and thawed them at 35, your egg quality will be that of a 25-year-old. Crazy, right?

Earlier You Freeze = Better Outcomes

Unfortunately, egg freezing is typically pursued reactively when a woman’s optimal fertility window passes and she feels the need for “insurance.” Accordingly, the average age of women who freeze is 37-years-old.

Our hope is to educate more gals in their twenties—when eggs are most likely to be healthy and plentiful—on the health data, considerations, and opportunities of egg freezing. If you decide it’s right for you, freezing early can maximize your chance of success (i.e. more healthy eggs retrieved in fewer cycles).

If you’re past your twenties (like some of us!), don’t panic though. Those who freeze in their early-to-mid-30s have a 40-50% chance of achieving pregnancy with those eggs, and those who freeze in their late 30s have a 15-20% chance. While each person’s fertility timeline is unique, success rates vary based on age, health, and how many eggs are frozen and later fertilized.

And Lastly… the Price Tag? 

The cost of egg freezing today is unfortunately still very expensive because egg freezing is considered an “elective procedure” by insurance companies. Exact pricing varies by clinic, but on average, the egg retrieval procedure and medication costs $10,000-$15,000. You will also need to pay cold storage costs of $300-500 per year. However, check with your employer and insurance company, as some policies may cover a portion or all of the expense.

Once you are ready for kids, you will need to thaw and fertilize the eggs to prepare for the IVF process, which costs on average $5,000-$7,000. 

Here are a few resources to help guide your financial considerations:

• Freeze.health has a great, free clinic comparison tool that gives you visibility to the pricing and insurance accepted by 400 clinics in the U.S. 

• Freeze by Co offers a Split program that allows you to freeze and store half of your eggs retrieved for up to 10 years for free when you donate the other half to a family who can’t conceive otherwise.

• Some employers will cover some or all of the egg freezing process. InHerSight lists 57 popular companies that do.

Where Do I Go From Here?

If egg freezing sounds like a path you're interested in exploring, reach out to a fertility specialist to discuss your unique situation. And remember, the earlier you freeze, the better chance of successful outcomes.

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*The information provided is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or any other qualified healthcare provider with questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.