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Fertility preservation & assisted reproduction

Fertility 
preservation

& assisted reproduction

Using your frozen eggs

When you feel ready to think about starting a family and you have frozen eggs in storage, you have a number of choices as to how or even whether you use your frozen eggs:

Whichever route you go down, you always have other options to consider – if, for example, you decide not to use your frozen eggs and try to conceive naturally instead, you still have that option to go back to if natural conception doesn’t happen.

Using your frozen eggs: the process

  1. 1 A number of eggs will be thawed – around 80% of eggs survive the freezing and thawing process. This is why several eggs need to be collected to ensure there are enough left for the fertilisation process
  2. 2 The viable eggs will then be fertilised with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – this is when a single sperm is injected directly into an egg cell
  3. 3 The fertilized eggs will be left for a couple of days to develop into embryos
  4. 4 The most viable embryos will be chosen for implantation
  5. 5 You’ll be given hormone treatment to prepare your uterus for the implantation
  6. 6 The embryo is transferred to the uterus through a thin catheter tube – this is usually painless and shouldn’t need sedation
  7. 7 Around 14 days later you’ll take a pregnancy test to see if this round of IVF has worked
  8. 8 If this cycle hasn’t worked, you have the option to try again, or explore other routes
Did you know?

Why do frozen eggs have to be fertilised in the clinic?

The freezing process can make the outside of the egg cell less soft, and more difficult for sperm to get through. To ensure a sperm can get into the egg to fertilise it, the sperm will need to be injected directly into the egg

Did you know?
Why do frozen eggs have to be fertilised in the clinic?
The freezing process can make the outside of the egg cell less soft, and more difficult for sperm to get through. To ensure a sperm can get into the egg to fertilise it, the sperm will need to be injected directly into the egg

IVF preparation checklist: questions to ask yourself

Are you mentally ready for the IVF process?
It can be an emotionally demanding time and something of an emotional rollercoaster cycling through hope and disappointment. You should be offered counselling as part of the clinic’s package to work through and prepare for some of these difficult feelings
Are you physically fit and well enough for IVF?
IVF can be physically draining, and the hormone treatments you have before, during and after can have a major impact on your wellbeing. It’s important to look after yourself, getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise
Have you budgeted for the additional costs of IVF on top of egg freezing?
Some clinics may be able to offer a payment plan to spread the cost, but you will need to factor this in to your plans
Have you cleared your diary for the next few months?
IVF can be very time consuming; each round takes several weeks, and includes time off work for appointments and procedures as well as physical and/or emotional recovery. If you have a major event coming up (e.g. a graduation, holiday or wedding), how will you fit your IVF treatment schedule around it?
Do you have a good support network?
It can really help to have people around you who know what's happening and who you can talk to about the process and your feelings. Bear in mind that you will probably know a lot more about what’s happening than other people do, so try to be patient with them as they get up to speed.
Do you have a partner and if so, are they on board with IVF?
Do you have a partner you are ready to raise children with, or are you planning on being a single parent? If you go it alone now, how do you feel about the possibility of potential future children having a different biological father? Will you use a male partner’s sperm or will you need to find a donor? How much say does your partner have in your decisions? It’s good to think about these big questions in advance, so there are no assumptions and no surprises down the line
What’s your timeframe for IVF?
How many cycles of IVF or ART are you prepared to go through? How long will you try each route to conception before deciding either to try another route or to withdraw from treatment entirely? What’s your personal cut-off age for withdrawing from treatment? Whilst women in their 40s and 50s can and do have healthy babies, and even though using young eggs increases your chances of a live birth at a later age, pregnancy is still hard on the body and poses a higher risk to health for older women than younger women
Are you mentally ready for the IVF process?
It can be an emotionally demanding time and something of an emotional rollercoaster cycling through hope and disappointment. You should be offered counselling as part of the clinic’s package to work through and prepare for some of these difficult feelings
Are you physically fit and well enough for IVF?
IVF can be physically draining, and the hormone treatments you have before, during and after can have a major impact on your wellbeing. It’s important to look after yourself, getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise
Have you budgeted for the additional costs of IVF on top of egg freezing?
Some clinics may be able to offer a payment plan to spread the cost, but you will need to factor this in to your plans
Have you cleared your diary for the next few months?
IVF can be very time consuming; each round takes several weeks, and includes time off work for appointments and procedures as well as physical and/or emotional recovery. If you have a major event coming up (e.g. a graduation, holiday or wedding), how will you fit your IVF treatment schedule around it?
Do you have a good support network?
It can really help to have people around you who know what's happening and who you can talk to about the process and your feelings. Bear in mind that you will probably know a lot more about what’s happening than other people do, so try to be patient with them as they get up to speed.
Do you have a partner and if so, are they on board with IVF?
Do you have a partner you are ready to raise children with, or are you planning on being a single parent? If you go it alone now, how do you feel about the possibility of potential future children having a different biological father? Will you use a male partner’s sperm or will you need to find a donor? How much say does your partner have in your decisions? It’s good to think about these big questions in advance, so there are no assumptions and no surprises down the line
What’s your timeframe for IVF?
How many cycles of IVF or ART are you prepared to go through? How long will you try each route to conception before deciding either to try another route or to withdraw from treatment entirely? What’s your personal cut-off age for withdrawing from treatment? Whilst women in their 40s and 50s can and do have healthy babies, and even though using young eggs increases your chances of a live birth at a later age, pregnancy is still hard on the body and poses a higher risk to health for older women than younger women

When you’re ready, take a look at our articles on the various assisted reproduction techniques available

What happens if I don’t use my frozen eggs?

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

Using your frozen eggs

When you feel ready to think about starting a family and you have frozen eggs in storage, you have a number of choices as to how or even whether you use your frozen eggs:

Whichever route you go down, you always have other options to consider – if, for example, you decide not to use your frozen eggs and try to conceive naturally instead, you still have that option to go back to if natural conception doesn’t happen.

Using your frozen eggs: the process

  1. 1 A number of eggs will be thawed – around 80% of eggs survive the freezing and thawing process. This is why several eggs need to be collected to ensure there are enough left for the fertilisation process
  2. 2 The viable eggs will then be fertilised with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – this is when a single sperm is injected directly into an egg cell
  3. 3 The fertilized eggs will be left for a couple of days to develop into embryos
  4. 4 The most viable embryos will be chosen for implantation
  5. 5 You’ll be given hormone treatment to prepare your uterus for the implantation
  6. 6 The embryo is transferred to the uterus through a thin catheter tube – this is usually painless and shouldn’t need sedation
  7. 7 Around 14 days later you’ll take a pregnancy test to see if this round of IVF has worked
  8. 8 If this cycle hasn’t worked, you have the option to try again, or explore other routes
Did you know?
Why do frozen eggs have to be fertilised in the clinic?
The freezing process can make the outside of the egg cell less soft, and more difficult for sperm to get through. To ensure a sperm can get into the egg to fertilise it, the sperm will need to be injected directly into the egg

IVF preparation checklist: questions to ask yourself

Are you mentally ready for the IVF process?
It can be an emotionally demanding time and something of an emotional rollercoaster cycling through hope and disappointment. You should be offered counselling as part of the clinic’s package to work through and prepare for some of these difficult feelings
Are you physically fit and well enough for IVF?
IVF can be physically draining, and the hormone treatments you have before, during and after can have a major impact on your wellbeing. It’s important to look after yourself, getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise
Have you budgeted for the additional costs of IVF on top of egg freezing?
Some clinics may be able to offer a payment plan to spread the cost, but you will need to factor this in to your plans
Have you cleared your diary for the next few months?
IVF can be very time consuming; each round takes several weeks, and includes time off work for appointments and procedures as well as physical and/or emotional recovery. If you have a major event coming up (e.g. a graduation, holiday or wedding), how will you fit your IVF treatment schedule around it?
Do you have a good support network?
It can really help to have people around you who know what's happening and who you can talk to about the process and your feelings. Bear in mind that you will probably know a lot more about what’s happening than other people do, so try to be patient with them as they get up to speed.
Do you have a partner and if so, are they on board with IVF?
Do you have a partner you are ready to raise children with, or are you planning on being a single parent? If you go it alone now, how do you feel about the possibility of potential future children having a different biological father? Will you use a male partner’s sperm or will you need to find a donor? How much say does your partner have in your decisions? It’s good to think about these big questions in advance, so there are no assumptions and no surprises down the line
What’s your timeframe for IVF?
How many cycles of IVF or ART are you prepared to go through? How long will you try each route to conception before deciding either to try another route or to withdraw from treatment entirely? What’s your personal cut-off age for withdrawing from treatment? Whilst women in their 40s and 50s can and do have healthy babies, and even though using young eggs increases your chances of a live birth at a later age, pregnancy is still hard on the body and poses a higher risk to health for older women than younger women
Are you mentally ready for the IVF process?
It can be an emotionally demanding time and something of an emotional rollercoaster cycling through hope and disappointment. You should be offered counselling as part of the clinic’s package to work through and prepare for some of these difficult feelings
Are you physically fit and well enough for IVF?
IVF can be physically draining, and the hormone treatments you have before, during and after can have a major impact on your wellbeing. It’s important to look after yourself, getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise
Have you budgeted for the additional costs of IVF on top of egg freezing?
Some clinics may be able to offer a payment plan to spread the cost, but you will need to factor this in to your plans
Have you cleared your diary for the next few months?
IVF can be very time consuming; each round takes several weeks, and includes time off work for appointments and procedures as well as physical and/or emotional recovery. If you have a major event coming up (e.g. a graduation, holiday or wedding), how will you fit your IVF treatment schedule around it?
Do you have a good support network?
It can really help to have people around you who know what's happening and who you can talk to about the process and your feelings. Bear in mind that you will probably know a lot more about what’s happening than other people do, so try to be patient with them as they get up to speed.
Do you have a partner and if so, are they on board with IVF?
Do you have a partner you are ready to raise children with, or are you planning on being a single parent? If you go it alone now, how do you feel about the possibility of potential future children having a different biological father? Will you use a male partner’s sperm or will you need to find a donor? How much say does your partner have in your decisions? It’s good to think about these big questions in advance, so there are no assumptions and no surprises down the line
What’s your timeframe for IVF?
How many cycles of IVF or ART are you prepared to go through? How long will you try each route to conception before deciding either to try another route or to withdraw from treatment entirely? What’s your personal cut-off age for withdrawing from treatment? Whilst women in their 40s and 50s can and do have healthy babies, and even though using young eggs increases your chances of a live birth at a later age, pregnancy is still hard on the body and poses a higher risk to health for older women than younger women

When you’re ready, take a look at our articles on the various assisted reproduction techniques available

What happens if I don’t use my frozen eggs?

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

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References

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