This is more common than you might think – one study found that 27% of women who froze their eggs returned to the clinic later, meaning that around 73% of women chose not to use their frozen eggs. There may be lots of reasons for not using your frozen eggs, such as:
- Some women like to have eggs frozen as a “back up” plan in case they are not able to conceive naturally when the time comes
- Some women prefer to explore other means of assisted reproduction before using their frozen eggs
- Some women get pregnant spontaneously
- Some women may simply change their minds about trying for a family
What’s essential is that you agree with the clinic exactly what will happen if you don’t use your eggs before the storage timeframe is up. You will need to give consent, like signing a letter or contract, and decide what should happen to your frozen eggs if you choose not to use them.
Options might include: - Having the eggs destroyed by the clinic at the end of the storage period
- Donating your eggs to research, to support the development of more effective techniques in future which other people may benefit from
- Donating your eggs to another woman who wants to try for a baby but has little or no ovarian function