Planning to freeze your eggs? Here’s what you need to know
More women are freezing their eggs to increase their chances of becoming a parent down the track. Should you be doing it, too?
Female fertility typically peaks in early adulthood before steadily declining from the early 30s.
But thanks to technology and a greater awareness about the fertility window, more Australian women are taking steps to protect their reproductive future.
Research from ANZARD and UNSW reveals the number of egg freezing cycles in Australia and New Zealand rose by 133 per cent between 2016 and 2020.
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Why freeze your eggs?
Many women are not ready to have kids in their 20s.
Freezing your eggs may give you more time to achieve goals – such as pursue higher education, establish a career or take out a mortgage – before the life-changing role of motherhood begins.
University of Melbourne Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology program leader Dr Michelle Peate says there has been a big shift in fertility awareness in recent years.
“More women know that fertility and the ability to fall pregnant declines with age, but there’s also complex social and circumstantial parameters, such as building careers and earning degrees, that mean you aren’t in a position to start a family,” Dr Peate says.
“Biologically, your 20s are going to give you your best-quality eggs, but socially that age group often aren’t ready for kids, and this is further cemented by the fact half of Australian women haven’t had babies by the age of 31.”
What Jennifer Aniston wished someone had told her
For many women, the process of freezing their eggs is seen as a way of turning back time.
Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston, in a recent interview with Allure magazine, opened up about her own infertility struggles and her regret at not freezing eggs sooner.
“I would have given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favour.’
“You just don’t think it,” the popular actor said.
British singer-songwriter Rita Ora has also spoken about her desire to have children in the future, describing her egg freezing journey in her 20s as the best thing she ever did.
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What age should you freeze your eggs?
While it makes sense to leverage your youth by freezing your eggs during your 20s, the procedure and ongoing storage can be costly and may be unnecessary.
People in this age group often go on to fall pregnant naturally without fertility assistance.
Earlier this year, a review was published in the Australian Journal of General Practice that indicated the most logical time for women to freeze their eggs was between 32 and 38 years old.
Meanwhile, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows women aged 35 and over now account for more than 25 per cent of annual births, while the rate of women aged between 40 and 44 giving birth is also rising.
“Nowadays, women are more aware of their options and can make decisions about their future accordingly,” Dr Peate says.
“The basic principle is to try to be as informed as possible and to have all the information you can about your unique situation so you can weigh up what’s important to you.”
Fertility treatment: What to expect
The first step towards fertility treatment usually involves a range of tests and blood work to provide a rough estimate of your egg count and the overall health of your eggs.
This can indicate how likely you are to conceive naturally and how easy or difficult it could be to retrieve viable eggs.
Family health histories are also considered and those with documented hereditary conditions are encouraged to have genetic screening to indicate the likelihood of passing on conditions to offspring.
Why you might like to consider genetic screening
Reproductive genetic counsellor Dr Alison Archibald says more people view reproductive genetic screening as a key part of pre and early pregnancy healthcare.
And as technology advances, more genes and conditions are being screened.
“The most informative approach is to screen both reproductive parents,” Dr Archibald says.
“For people using donors via IVF, it’s important to ask what genetic screening has been provided for these donors.”
She says the most common misconception about genetic carrier screening is it’s exclusively for people with known hereditary illnesses in their family — but that’s not the case.
“Genetic changes can pass down through many generations of a family without a person having the condition, and some genetic conditions are underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
“It’s very common to carry a genetic condition; most people do.
“Carrier screening is about determining whether the reproductive couple together have an increased chance of having children with serious genetic conditions, which is why screening is relevant to everyone.”
Screening doesn’t come cheap, and there are calls from the community for the federal government to introduce free genetic carrier screening for three of the highest-risk conditions.
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Expect to pay thousands of dollars to freeze your eggs
Egg freezing is expensive, especially when combined with the ongoing costs of storage.
Bills run into thousands of dollars, although you may be eligible for a Medicare rebate if you need to freeze your eggs because you have a medical condition that affects your fertility.
Perhaps you are lucky enough to work for a company that will subsidise the cost.
In a sign of the times, some companies are demonstrating their family-friendly credentials by offering employees financial support for egg freezing and fertility treatments.
“If having biological children is important to you, it’s important to consider the cost of fertility treatments and other potential roadblocks you might face,” Dr Peate says.
One woman’s story: Why Courtney froze her eggs
Courtney Magnon’s egg freezing journey has been a little less conventional than most.
She went through the process as a precursor to cancer treatment for stage 4 melanoma.
Just before the pandemic hit in 2020, the then 29-year-old content creator, podcaster and stationery business owner had a sun spot checked and was soon diagnosed with advanced melanoma.
“I was at an age where friends were buying houses, getting married and having kids, but I was focused on just staying alive,” Courtney says.
“My doctor advised me to freeze my eggs before I started any cancer treatment, which is exactly what I did, and it was during that process that I discovered I wasn’t very fertile for my age.
“In fact, I was told that around 95 per cent of women were more fertile than me.”
Fast forward to the present and Courtney has not only been able to freeze viable eggs, she has also survived cancer four times over.
“If I wasn’t diagnosed with cancer, I wouldn’t have found out about my fertility issues,” she says.
“It just goes to show that struggling to conceive doesn’t always present obvious symptoms and being in your 20s doesn’t always correlate with high fertility.”
5 things to be aware of with egg freezing
Egg freezing might extend the viability of your eggs, but it’s important to remember there’s no bulletproof solution for safeguarding your future fertility.
Here are some things to be aware of:
1: Each Australian state has its own laws for the storage period for eggs, sperm and embryos, and in most states, frozen eggs can only be stored for 10-15 years.
2: The hormone stimulation involved in the egg freezing process can cause side effects – most generally mild, such as headaches and nausea.
3: Some women develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, where the ovaries leak fluid into the body, which can be serious and cause symptoms such as severe vomiting and blood clots.
4: Sometimes the egg retrieval process can be unsuccessful and result in no eggs being retrieved.
5: Even if your frozen eggs later become healthy embryos, the transferred embryos won’t necessarily result in pregnancy.
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Written by Charlotte Brundrett.
