Social freezing:
Preserving women’s fertility
Social freezing, or egg freezing for
non-medical reasons, is a process that
allows women to preserve their fertility
for the future. This method is becoming
increasingly popular, especially among
women who want to postpone motherhood
due to their career, personal goals or not
finding the right partner. Freezing eggs at a
young age allows women to use their eggs
in the future, when their fertility is naturally
lower as it declines with age.
Thanks to advances in assisted
reproduction, women can now have more
control over their reproductive future
without being limited by their biological
clock. This procedure gives them the
freedom to choose motherhood when they
feel ready for it, without having to worry
about the quality of their eggs.
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Many women are postponing childbirth to a later age in order to pursue other opportunities first. According to OECD data, approximately 20% of women aged 40-44 were childless in 2010, compared to 14% in 1995, and this trend is expected to continue.
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Delaying family planning and the natural fertility decline after 35, which accelerates after 39, make egg freezing a way to preserve fertility for the future.
Possible reasons for social freezing
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Work in hazardous occupations and adrenaline sports
If you work in an environment that poses an increased risk of injury or trauma (e.g. the military, fire department, rescue worke) or participate in extreme sports, freezing your reproductive cells may be a wise decision. Having this option gives you confidence that you will be able to start a family in the future, even if unexpected complications arise.
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Age and fertility
The biological clock is ticking — especially for women. Their fertility begins to decline around the age of 30, with a steeper decline after 35. If you’ve reached this age and you are unsure when you’ll want or be able to have children, egg freezing can be an insurance policy for the future. Sperm quality declines more slowly, but age also plays a role here, especially after age 40.
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We recommend considering social freezing in the following cases
You haven’t yet found the right partner to start a family with. You want to prioritize your career, education, or travel plans for now. You would like to achieve other life goals first, such as buying a house or building financial savings, and only then try for pregnancy.
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Genetic factors
If there are genetic predispositions in your family that can affect your fertility (e.g. premature ovarian failure), freezing your reproductive cells is a useful preventive step.
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Postponement of parenthood
If you aren‘t ready to start a family but you know that you would like to have children in the future, freezing your reproductive cells is a very good solution. Many people are postponing parenthood today to further their career, for education and personal priorities, or due to the absence of a suitable partner. However, fertility naturally declines with age, especially in women. Freezing eggs or sperm at an early age increases the chances of a successful pregnancy in the future
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She wants to postpone motherhood until later in life.
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Is facing oncological treatment
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Has to have her ovaries removed for health reasons
Ovarian function, fertility and age
During a woman’s reproductive period, the ovary contains hundreds of thousands of immature eggs. The eggs ripen, surrounded by liquid in a blanched casing. This spherical formation is called a follicle. Usually, several smaller follicles start to develop in a wave over a period of weeks, and then most of them stop growing, while one — the dominant follicle — continues to grow and releases a mature egg during ovulation. As we get older, the number of eggs that can go through the maturation process declines, until there are almost none left by the age of 50.
The most fertile period for women is between the ages of 20 and 30, when the ovaries still contain a large number of healthy eggs.
10-15 years prior to menopause, ovarian function deteriorates, even though the woman has regular menstruation cycles. This is especially true for women in their 40s, who are less likely to get pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby because of the age related decline in egg quality.
A woman is most fertile between the ages of 20 and 30
The process of freezing eggs
The process of retrieving and freezing eggs is preceded by a gynaecological examination, blood tests and hormonal preparation. The situation is different for each woman, which is why we approach each patient individually. We recommend that you first contact our coordinators, who will be happy to advise you and arrange a consultation, during which you will learn all the necessary information and plan the next step.
Consultation, examination, assessment and consent
The evaluation of egg freezing involves an initial consultation with our reproductive medicine specialist and a series of tests that include an ovarian reserve blood test (AMH) and an ultrasound. A treatment plan is drawn up based on these results, and the stimulant drugs that will be used are considered based on the doctor’s recommendations.
Ovarian stimulation
Once we agree on your plan, we will begin treatment either with the start of your period or on an individualised plan based on your availability. You will administer the stimulation injections yourself. They are taken daily at approximately the same time for 10-14 days. The injections are injected just under the skin in the abdomen or thigh area.
Ultrasounds are performed to check the response of the ovaries to FSH injections. During stimulation, an ultrasound is performed to measure the size of the follicles — folliculometry. The dosage can ba adjusted depending on the development of follicles.
Frequently asked questions about stimulation
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Can the size of the follicle indicate that there may be an egg in the follicle?
During ovarian stimulation, many follicles may grow, although some may not contain an egg. Unfortunately, there is no method to prove whether eggs are present in the follicles. Eggs can only be examined after ovarian puncture.
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How do follicles grow?
The response of follicles in the ovaries varies from client to client. The goal of stimulation is to achieve an adequate number of growing follicles for a good egg count. A stimulation and treatment plan is drawn up after reviewing the results of all the tests performed. Although the stimulation protocol is carefully planned according to each patient’s test results, the ovarian response can sometimes be unexpected. We therefore carefully monitor each patient during stimulation and adjust the dosage of medications if necessary
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When are the eggs retrieved?
When the follicles are large enough, egg retrieval (puncture) is planned. The egg retrieval injection (or trigger injection) is usually administered about 36 hours before the egg retrieval process, so it is usually done in the evening.
Scheduling retrieval
Within 2 weeks, specialists at our clinic will perform an ultrasound scan, so that we can schedule a date for egg retrieval.
Egg retrieval
Eggs are retrieved transvaginally under short, general anaesthesia. You will be discharged from the clinic within a few hours.
Frequently asked questions about egg retrieval
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Do all follicles contain eggs?
Follicles are sacs filled with follicular fluid. Inside, they are lined with follicular cells that produce female sex hormones, which, among other things, help the uterine lining grow properly.
Under the influence of stimulating hormones, the follicle grows and the egg begins to mature inside. This is completed by activating the last stage of cell division with a trigger injection. Ideally, there should be one mature egg in each follicle at the end of the process, but this is not always the case. Sometimes a follicle is removed in which no egg has formed.
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What are mature and immature eggs?
Depending on the type of maturity, we refer to the eggs as M2 (mature egg) and M1 (immature egg).
Maturity indicates that chromosome segregation has occurred and the eggs are capable of fertilisation, but it does not confirm the type of chromosome segregation (mature eggs may therefore be genetically abnormal).
Immature eggs do not have the correct number of chromosomes, i.e. they have not passed the last stage of cell division and therefore cannot be fertilised.
The proportion of mature and immature eggs varies from woman to woman. Older women and women with polycystic ovaries usually have a higher proportion of immature eggs than the population average.
Only mature eggs are frozen. We cannot see oocytes on an ultrasound, only follicles. It is therefore impossible to predict how many eggs can be frozen. In rare cases, there may be no eggs , or all the eggs may be immature. Suitable material for freezing may not be obtained.
Freezing eggs
Eggs treated with cryoprotectants are frozen by vitrification. We will then store your frozen eggs for you until the time is right for a baby.
Frequently asked questions about egg freezing
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How many eggs will I be able to freeze?
It is very difficult to accurately predict the number of eggs retrieved and the number of viable embryos that will eventually be produced. The expected success rate of the procedure can be partially estimated based on an initial assessment of the ovarian reserve with the anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) test and ultrasound. The AMH test can give us an indication of the remaining egg reserve, although it does not provide any information about egg quality.
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What are the risks and side effects of egg freezing?
When deciding whether to preserve your eggs for future use, it is important to consider the risks of this procedure and the likelihood that your eggs will survive the process. Ultimately, you need to decide whether to try to get pregnant in the near future or use this technique to preserve your fertility.
The risks associated with social freezing are mostly related to hormonal stimulation and egg retrieval. The most common side effects of hormonal stimulation are redness at the injection site, breast pain, bloating and mood changes. These symptoms usually subside within a few days after egg retrieval.
Egg retrieval using ultrasound and ovarian stimulation have been performed for almost 30 years, and the risks have been greatly reduced. The risks of egg freezing are small but significant if they occur.
In some cases, the ovaries may overreact to hormonal stimulation, leading to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. However, thorough medical examinations and individualised stimulation treatment minimise this risk at our clinic.
The most common postoperative symptoms after egg retrieval are pain, abdominal distention, nausea and fatigue. These may take 3-4 days to resolve, and recovery time varies from client to client.
To prevent complications, in addition to professional medical care, the patient’s discipline is also important; she should strictly follow all instructions and recommendations by doctors and medical staff. Statistically, frozen eggs have a lower pregnancy rate than fresh eggs at the age at which the oocytes were frozen.
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How are the eggs stored?
Mature eggs are frozen using the vitrification method (quick freezing) and stored in cryostorage directly at our clinic. They are not transported anywhere and are not handled during storage.
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How long can eggs be stored?
Thanks to vitrification, eggs can be safely stored for many years, or even decades, while maintaining their quality. It depends on each patient’s preference as to how long she wishes to preserve her eggs. The price for one cycle of social freezing includes one year of storage. If you only expect to use your eggs after several years, we recommend taking advantage of our discounted biological storage packages.
It is important to keep in touch with the clinic and inform us if there is a change in your delivery address or other contact details, so that we can contact you before the storage period expires and arrange the next course of action.
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What happens if I want to use my eggs? How many survive?
The eggs are thawed (heated) and then fertilised with sperm using the ICSI method (intracytoplasmic sperm injection into the egg).
Thanks to a new technology called vitrification, approximately 80-90% of eggs survive thawing. The number varies depending on the age of the patient at the time of freezing and her ovarian reserve. Older women and women with a lower reserve have a lower egg survival rate.
The egg and sperm contribute equally to the creation of the embryo, i.e. 50% each. Unless we know the quality of the partner’s gametes, it is very difficult to accurately estimate the chances of achieving pregnancy and giving birth to a healthy baby.
The only thing that can be said with certainty about social freezing is that it allows fertility to be maintained at the same level as when the sex cells were frozen.
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We have had many successful births from our egg freezing programme.
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We have many years of experience with social freezing and we achieve a great success rate of thawing eggs.
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We educate and inform the general public about support options for women who want to optimise their chances of starting a family before the natural decline in ovarian function.
