Why do women freeze their eggs?
These days, egg freezing is a common way for women to safeguard their fertility, storing their eggs until a time in the future when they are ready to start trying for a baby. That’s because it’s no longer uncommon for women and couples to start a family much later in life. While women are most fertile in their twenties and early thirties, sometimes a woman’s life circumstances simply don’t suit having a baby within that age bracket, e.g. she may be waiting for the right relationship to come along, she may not feel emotionally ready, or she may wish to be more financially secure first. Other women and couples want to focus on their careers and achieve professional goals before thinking about starting a family. Whatever the reason, egg freezing gives women the option to preserve some of their younger, more fertile eggs, storing them until a point in the future when they are ready for family life.
Urgent or emergency egg freezing (also known as ‘fertility preservation for medical reasons’)
Sometimes, egg freezing may be necessary due to medical treatment. Certain chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgical treatments associated with specific cancers can have lasting effects on a woman’s fertility. Egg freezing is typically offered to these women before starting treatment. Sometimes, this must be performed urgently, so as not to delay life-saving cancer treatment.
Additionally, women with certain conditions such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) may have concerns about their ability to conceive in the future, and may choose to freeze their eggs in case they require IVF down the track.
What does the egg freezing process involve?
Eggs collected for the purposes of freezing, storage and preservation are retrieved using exactly the same procedure that is used in a regular IVF cycle. To collect as many eggs as possible, the ovaries are stimulated with self-injected medicine for 8–14 days. During this time, we will use ultrasound monitoring to determine the best time for egg collection.
Egg collection will occur onsite at our purpose-built day surgery in Box Hill, Melbourne. We collect your eggs while you are under light sedation, with the entire procedure only taking 15–20 minutes. On average, 8–15 eggs are collected. From this collection, mature eggs are identified, frozen and stored until a time in the future when you might choose to use them. At this time, the eggs will be thawed and used as part of a normal IVF cycle.
What are the success rates for conceiving a baby using frozen eggs?
Freezing your eggs is not a guarantee for a baby in the future. While greater than 90% of frozen eggs will survive thawing, a number of hurdles must still be overcome before you become pregnant. This includes success at all key steps in the IVF cycle: fertilisation of the thawed egg with your partner’s or donor sperm to form an embryo, continued growth and development of the resulting embryo, and successful embryo transfer with implantation of the embryo into the wall of your womb.
Additionally, the number of live births resulting from frozen eggs is highly influenced by the age of the woman at the time of egg freezing, and the number of eggs collected. To give you an approximate idea:
Live birth rate for women who undergo egg freezing at 30 years of age:
- If 10 eggs are frozen, the probability of achieving one live birth is 69%
- If 20 eggs are frozen, the probability of achieving one live birth is 90%
Live birth rate for women who undergo egg freezing at 37 years of age:
- If 10 eggs are frozen, the probability of achieving one live birth is 50%
- If 20 eggs are frozen, the probability of achieving one live birth is 75%
What are the costs involved in egg freezing?
Newlife IVF is committed to reasonable pricing, in line with our belief that egg freezing should be accessible to all women. While an egg freezing cycle due to medical reasons attracts a Medicare rebate, elective egg freezing does not.
An egg freezing cycle involves the first part of a standard IVF cycle, i.e. ovarian stimulation (medication to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs) followed by egg collection, freezing (vitrification) and storage of any mature eggs.
When you wish to use your frozen eggs, the IVF cycle is then effectively completed – your eggs will be thawed on the day of ovulation and exposed to a sample of sperm (‘insemination’) in the hope that one or more eggs are fertilised by the sperm and develop into a healthy embryo. Ideally, you will end up with multiple embryos, one of which will be selected for transfer into your uterus (womb). Any surplus embryos can then be frozen and stored in case they are needed for a future IVF cycle. This may include frozen embryo transfers when you are ready to try for a second child.
Therefore, there are a few different costs to consider when deciding whether or not to freeze your eggs:
- The cost to collect and freeze your eggs (fees will differ depending on the reason for freezing, i.e. medical or elective, and whether you require one or more cycles in order to collect an adequate number of eggs for freezing). Currently, an elective egg freezing cycle costs $4,485 (no Medical rebate available), while a medical egg freezing cycle ranges from $3,015.25–$3,695.75 (once Medicare rebate applied)*
- The ongoing cost to store your frozen eggs (storing eggs incurs an ongoing charge every 6 months); currently $270 per 6-month period*
- The cost of any future IVF, i.e. the cost to thaw your eggs and complete the IVF cycle when you are ready to try for a baby (referred to as a ‘vitrified oocyte thaw or VOT cycle’ – an IVF cycle that uses thawed frozen eggs); the cost of this cycle is currently $5,495.70.*
A full list of Newlife IVF’s fees can be found here. Our Patient Finance Manager can talk you through the costs that will apply to your specific situation and available payment plans.
*Fees correct as of 1 January 2024.
