Egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation)
Egg freezing is a procedure that allows you to save eggs now to use in the future if you ever decide to have biological children. Your eggs will be frozen until you are ready to use them.
What are eggs?
Ovaries are two small organs in your lower belly. You were born with tiny eggs stored in your ovaries. Over time, the number of eggs in your ovaries goes down.
When you go through puberty:
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Hormones such as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) cause follicles (sacs in the ovaries) that contain a tiny egg to grow it into a larger, mature egg.
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The mature egg is released from one of your ovaries each month.
If an egg is fertilized (joins) with sperm, it will implant itself into the wall of the uterus and begin to grow into a baby.
If the egg is not fertilized with sperm, you get your period (menstruation).
Where to start?
Who can choose egg freezing?
You can think about choosing egg freezing if:
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You have ovaries.
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You have gone through puberty – meaning you have started your period.
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You have any risk level of fertility problems: lower, medium, or higher risk.
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You can delay the start of your treatment for cancer or a blood disease to freeze your eggs.
What will I need to do if I choose egg freezing?
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Every day for about 8-10 days, you’ll get hormone shots (with small needles) in your belly that make your ovaries turn more of its tiny eggs into large, mature eggs.
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Every few days, you’ll go to the clinic to get:
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A blood test
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An ultrasound, which uses sound waves to make a video of the inside of your body.
To see pictures of your ovaries on a computer screen, a doctor or ultrasound tech will put a small device in your vagina (transvaginal ultrasound) or on the outside of your belly (abdominal ultrasound).
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Once there are several large follicles (typically around day 10), you’ll get a shot of medicine to help the eggs fully mature.
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Around day 12, you’ll go to the clinic for the egg retrieval procedure where the doctor will collect the mature eggs from your body.
To collect the eggs, they will:
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Give you medicine to put you into a light sleep so you won't feel anything.
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Use a special hollow needle they put through your vagina into your ovary to collect the mature eggs to freeze and store for the future.
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After the procedure, you will wake up and may feel sore, crampy, and have some vaginal bleeding. Some people will have bloating and a feeling of fullness in their belly.
Usually you can go home the same day and do most activities.
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If your cancer or blood disease treatment starts right after the procedure, you may also feel symptoms from your treatment that limit your normal activities.
When can I do it? How long does it take?
Doctors usually want to finish egg freezing before you start treatment for cancer or blood disease. But sometimes people do egg freezing between or after treatments.
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If you choose egg freezing, it usually takes at least 2 weeks to finish.
It's important to talk to your doctor or nurse right away if you want to do egg freezing before you start treatment.
The downsides
What are the side effects of egg freezing?
The hormone shots may cause:
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Pain and bruising where you get the shot
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Symptoms similar to PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome):
Tender breasts, feeling ups and downs in your mood, bloating, feeling sick, and having an upset stomach
The egg retrieval procedure may cause:
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Pain, soreness, or discomfort in your belly or vagina
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Bloating or cramping in your belly
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Some bleeding from your vagina
You may feel side effects from the hormone shots and the egg retrieval procedure to collect your eggs.
What are the risks of egg freezing?
Risks to you
Rarely, the procedure to collect the eggs may cause:
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Infection
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Bleeding
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Damage to other parts of the body
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The hormone shots may cause a rare but serious health problem called “ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome” (OHSS), where the ovaries respond too much to the hormone medicines and grow in size, causing nausea and shortness of breath.
People who get OHSS may:
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Have fluid collect around their lungs, belly area, and liver, or have a risk of blood clots
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Need a hospital stay
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Need to delay starting treatment for cancer or a blood disease
Your doctor will carefully check to make sure you’re on the right dose of hormone medicine to lower the risk of this happening.
If your ovaries do not respond well to the hormones, or if you are too ill to continue, the doctor will stop the egg freezing process.
Risks to your frozen eggs
There is a chance your eggs can’t be used if there’s a mistake or accident at the storage facility, such as a power outage. You can talk to the storage facility about what they do to prevent accidents.
How much does egg freezing cost?
The egg freezing medication and egg retrieval procedure may cost several thousand dollars.
How much the procedure will cost you depends on:
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Where you have the procedure done
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If your insurance plan covers part or all of the procedure
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Other factors
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It may cost several hundred dollars a year to store your frozen eggs.
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There could be costs in the future if you want to use your eggs to have a child, such as through in vitro fertilization (IVF), where eggs and sperm are combined in a lab before being put into the uterus.
Visit the “Costs” page to learn more about costs for fertility preservation and ways to cover them.
In the future
How would I use my frozen eggs in the future?
Try for pregnancy without using your frozen eggs
If you want or need to use your frozen eggs, doctors may suggest a procedure called in vitro fertilization (IVF).
In IVF, they would:
Try for pregnancy using your frozen eggs
If you decide to have children someday, you can try to get pregnant without help from a doctor or fertility clinic if:
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Your ovaries are working.
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Your doctor has said it’s safe for you to try and get pregnant.
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You have a partner that makes sperm.
If you try for 6-12 months and don’t get pregnant, you and your partner should see a fertility specialist. Doctors may suggest fertility treatments like taking medicine to encourage your ovaries to mature eggs.
1. Thaw some or all of your frozen eggs.
2. Combine your eggs with your partner’s sperm or a donor’s sperm in a lab to fertilize it. If your eggs are fertilized, they become embryos.
3. Transfer one or more embryos to your uterus (where babies grow). Sometimes, the doctor transfers an embryo into another person who agrees to carry the baby for you (called a “gestational carrier”). Many people have given birth this way.
Visit the “Other ways to become a parent” page to learn more about donors and gestational carriers.
How well does egg freezing work?
We don’t know as much about how well egg freezing works in kids and teens with cancer or a blood disease, but we will continue to learn more about egg freezing over time.
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You can talk to your doctor or nurse about how well egg freezing may work for you, which may depend on things like:
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Your age
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Your medical history
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Your ovarian reserve (total number of eggs in your ovaries)
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The number of eggs they think could be collected or frozen
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Your fertility clinic (different fertility clinics can have different success rates)
Freezing your eggs may give you a higher chance of having a biological child, but it does not guarantee you will have a biological child someday.
Important note!
If you are unable to have biological children, there are other ways to become a parent. Visit this page to learn more.
