Egg freezing is a method of fertility preservation that allows people the possibility of using their own eggs to become a parent later in life. It involves using hormones to stimulate the ovaries and produce multiple eggs, then collecting those eggs, preserving them, and storing them in a freezer in a lab. People freeze their eggs for many reasons, but in general, it’s because they want to have the option to use their own eggs if they choose to become parents later in life.

Step one is to schedule a consultation with a fertility specialist. At this appointment, expect to have some blood tests and a transvaginal ultrasound done to assess ovarian reserve, or how many eggs you have. Next, the doctor will gather these results and develop a treatment plan, which will consist of approximately 10-12 days of hormone injections that will stimulate the growth of the eggs in your ovaries. The goal is to get as many as possible, so the amount of medication used will vary from patient to patient. You will have frequent blood tests and ultrasound monitoring over the course of the stimulation phase. When the time is right, the doctor will prescribe a different hormonal medication to mature and release the eggs. The final step is egg retrieval, a procedure where the doctor collects as many mature eggs as possible.⁴  You’ll be sedated for the procedure, and typically, by the time you wake up afterward, you’ll know how many eggs the doctor retrieved.

The eggs collected are frozen and stored, sometimes for years. When you decide you are ready to use the frozen eggs, they’ll be thawed and prepared for fertilization with sperm from either your partner or a donor (read about ICSI for more details on how eggs are fertilized!). The developing embryos will be watched in the lab for a few days before being transferred into the uterus. Approximately 10 days later, you will be able to take a pregnancy test to see if it worked.

You can store your eggs for as long as you want. Once frozen, the eggs don’t age, and your chances of success are based on the age of the egg when it was retrieved, regardless of when you use them. Your clinic will likely charge a yearly storage fee for your frozen eggs.

Note: it’s important to provide your most up to date contact information with your clinic so that they can contact you with consent forms. If they can’t reach you to ensure you want to keep your eggs frozen, they may dispose of them.