Don’t wait till it’s too late – When is the best time to Freeze your eggs - for the best results?
A lot of people don’t spend much time thinking about fertility. When we do think about fertility, it is often deflected, thought of as something to worry about later in life when having a kid is more firmly on your radar.
For a woman, it is so much better to know about fertility and understand your body earlier in your life.
There is power in knowing about your eggs, their natural biology and the optimal time to freeze them. You need to know egg freezing exists in order to act. While you are still young, you can take action and freeze your eggs to achieve the best IVF success rates.
Egg biology: old eggs get tired and make more mistakes
Women are born with a limited supply of eggs which are used up over our reproductive years. By the time you try to get pregnant, the egg that creates your child is exactly as old as you are. Many women are shocked to learn that over the age of 35, most of the eggs that remain in their ovaries no longer have the potential to make a baby. Critical mistakes are frequently made by older eggs that cannot be prevented or corrected.
Will I need my frozen eggs: overkill or enhanced fertility?
The best time to have your eggs frozen is in your 20’s and early 30s. At this time, a woman who freezes more than 20 eggs has a 90% probability of having a baby using her frozen eggs.
What pros and cons of egg freezing at different ages?
The pros and cons of freezing eggs around 20
Pros:
Excellent egg quality
Higher egg numbers achievable in each freezing cycle
Reduced treatment costs compared with freezing later
Cons:
Plenty of women will have a family without needing to access their rainy day egg bank
Treatments may (in retrospect) have been unnecessary
Freezing eggs around 30
Pros:
Good egg quality
High egg numbers achievable, on average over a few treatment cycles
Reduced treatment costs compared with freezing later
By virtue of still being uncertain about having a baby at this time-point, women who freeze eggs are more likely to benefit from creating their self-care gifted security egg bank.
Cons:
Some women will still be able to have a family without needing to access their egg bank
Freezing eggs after 35
Pros:
Eggs are frozen before further profound fertility decline occurs
May definitely be the difference between having a genetic child or not
May allow women to subsequently have a second or third genetic child where this would otherwise have been impossible
Cons
Lower egg numbers achievable per cycle
More treatment cycles are recommended, associated with higher cost for the woman
Reduced egg quality is associated with a lower live birth rates per egg warmed
On balance: The best age to freeze eggs is ideally in your 20’s to early 30’s. By this stage, if you haven’t had a baby and are considering egg freezing, it is highly likely that having eggs frozen will enhance your future fertility options. Beyond 35, while having eggs frozen can benefit you profoundly, it becomes much less realistic to achieve ideal egg numbers in a single round of freezing.
To freeze your eggs, contact us at Women’s Health Melbourne to book an appointment. Carpe Diem - Seize the Day.