For professional and elite athletes, performance is everything. Every training session, competition, and recovery strategy is carefully optimized to maintain peak condition. Egg freezing provides women an incredible opportunity to thrive in their careers without compromising their family-building dreams and many athletes wonder if undergoing fertility preservation will impact their performance, either in the short term or long term. The good news? With the right approach, you can prioritize both your career and your family-planning goals.
The egg freezing process & your body
Egg freezing is a multi-step process, with the most physically demanding phase often being ovarian stimulation. In general, here’s what you can expect from a typical egg freezing cycle:
Screening (1-3 days)
A comprehensive hormone and physical screening is done prior to beginning the process. Screening includes hormone testing, ultrasound, and physical exam.
Hormonal stimulation (10-14 days)
Daily hormone injections encourage the ovaries to mature multiple eggs. You may experience bloating, water retention, and temporary shifts in energy levels. During this time, you’ll also attend regular monitoring appointments with your care team to ensure everything is progressing as expected.
Egg retrieval (1 day procedure, 1-3 day recovery time)
A short outpatient procedure is performed under light sedation to collect mature eggs. While minimally invasive, some athletes may need a few days to recover before resuming full training.
What to expect physically
Egg freezing is generally considered to be safe, but no procedure is 100% risk-free. While every body responds differently, here are some common side effects to be aware of:
Increased bloating & water retention
Temporary weight fluctuations due to hormonal stimulation can occur.
Fatigue & recovery
Some athletes report feeling slightly more tired during stimulation, though normal activity can usually continue.
Temporary training adjustments
High-impact workouts may need to be modified to avoid ovarian torsion, a rare but serious complication.
When can you resume training after an egg retrieval?
Most athletes can return to light training within a few days post-retrieval, with full intensity resuming in one to two weeks. The key is to consult with your care team regarding your unique body and circumstances, and to listen to your body in order to allow for proper recovery.
Performance & long-term impact
One of the most common misconceptions is that egg freezing permanently alters your body. However, once the hormone medications leave your system, your body returns to baseline function. There is no evidence that egg retrieval negatively affects long-term strength, endurance, or agility.
Balancing fertility & athletic goals
Egg freezing is a temporary process, but your athletic career and family-building plans are long-term. By timing the procedure strategically and working with professionals who understand your physical demands, you can take charge of your fertility—without compromising your performance.
Benefits of egg freezing for women athletes
Everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue their careers and their family-building goals without compromise. Women athletes face unique challenges when it comes to this, due to the fact that their career and their fertility are often peaking at the same time, leading to many athletes believing they have to choose one path or the other. Egg freezing is an incredible tool that has allowed countless women to live life on their own terms. At Cofertility, we’re on a mission to create a world where anyone who wishes to pursue egg freezing can do so freely, without barriers.
With our Split program, we give members the opportunity to freeze their eggs entirely for free when they donate half of the eggs retrieved to help another family grow. With our Keep program, members can self-fund their egg freezing journey at a discounted rate with access to our network of partners and perks. With both programs, members get access to our members-only community to connect with others going through the process at the same time.
To learn more about how Cofertility supports women athletes, visit leveltheplayingfield.co
To apply for our egg freezing programs, visit quiz.cofertility.com
