Egg freezing provides a great opportunity to those who wish to preserve their fertility and start a family when the time is right for them. The process involves collecting a woman's eggs, freezing and storing them until a later date. Aging is not the only reason why a woman may consider egg freezing, other reasons include risk of early menopause, an automimmune disorder or moral or ethical reasons. The age at which you freeze your eggs is vital in increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy at the desired time to have a baby.
The best age to freeze your eggs
When should you freeze your eggs? To increase the chances of successfully becoming pregnant when the time is right, it is recommended to freeze your eggs in your 20s and early 30s. Although, if you are planning to undergo treatment or have been diagnosed with an illness, then considering freezing your eggs as soon as possible could be a good idea, as the quantity and quality of your eggs may decrease, which also naturally happens after the age of 35.
No matter what age you choose to freeze your eggs, your clinic specialists will work closely with you to make you feel comfortable, offer guidance and develop a personalised plan based on your own unique circumstances.
The benefits of freezing your eggs at a younger age
For the majority of women, fertility starts to decrease once they reach their late 20s and by the age of 35 fertility begins to decline rapidly. If you choose to freeze your eggs under the age of 35, you have a significantly higher chance of success in comparison to those attempting to conceive naturally, especially from the age of 40 onwards.
Women who choose to freeze their eggs at a younger age have a much higher success rate when it comes to fertilisation later on. To have a healthy birth, the eggs collected need to be high quality. Young women have an advantage here as they produce more eggs, with a larger amount tending to be of good quality. However, for those who freeze their eggs in their 20s, there is also a smaller chance of needing them in the future as many young women go onto having children naturally in the future, without the need to use their frozen eggs. For those undergoing treatment or those who are at risk of early menopause, freezing your eggs may be a wonderful option to preserve fertility. But for those wishing to simply delay pregnancy, it’s a good idea to weigh up the pros and cons, as well as look in to cost.
Impacts of age on egg freezing
As women get older, their fertility tends to decrease, meaning it becomes more difficult to conceive naturally or produce a large amount of high quality eggs. It also becomes more complicated when it comes to ovary stimulation, used throughout egg freezing. The changes a woman goes through as she ages makes it less likely to produce suitable eggs for freezing, as women produce fewer eggs as they age.
Pregnancy is understandably hard on the body, but being in good health makes the journey easier. Although being fit and healthy is a great thing, you are still only born with a certain amount of eggs. This, along with the quality of the eggs, can decline over the years. Even if you are in fantastic health, a woman's decreasing fertility will lower the chances of getting pregnant naturally to about 5% by the age of 40.
Thanks to improved technology and medical treatments, women can have children later on in life into middle age and beyond. You should bear in mind though that freezing eggs once your fertility is already declining lowers the chances of a successful pregnancy. More than one treatment may be needed to collect enough eggs and store them, this will be more costly and may be more invasive on your life and body. However, unlike women freezing their eggs at a younger age, if done whilst slightly older it becomes more likely that you will use those frozen eggs in the future.
