female fertility

Has anyone ever told you that freezing your eggs will affect your ability to conceive naturally in the future? If you’ve heard this before, it’s understandable that it would make you think twice about pursuing egg freezing or donation. While this is a common question, it’s actually a misconception. Read on to learn more about why this is a myth and what egg freezing actually does for your fertility. 

The truth about egg freezing (or donation) and fertility

Let's get right to it—does freezing or donating eggs impact your ability to get pregnant on your own in the future? The short answer is no, egg freezing won’t lower your egg reserve and it won’t affect your chances of getting pregnant naturally when you’re ready to do so. To understand why this is, let’s talk about the ovulation process. 

What happens when you ovulate?

At the start of each menstrual cycle, when someone is on their period, their pituitary gland (in the brain) will release follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH triggers fluid-filled sacs in both ovaries to grow. These sacs are called follicles and they each contain an egg. The follicles grow until a second signal from the brain forces only one follicle (the “dominant” follicle) to continue to mature and eventually release its egg. That egg being released is what we call ovulation. 

Now that that single egg has been ovulated, what happens to all the other eggs in those other follicles? Well, since those follicles weren’t chosen as the dominant follicle, they stop growing and the eggs inside of them die. This is known as atresia. So, it’s basically survival of the fittest in each ovary every month — yikes!

So what does all that have to do with egg freezing?

Let’s briefly review what the egg retrieval process is for egg freezing, donation, and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The hormone medications used during all three processes prompts your ovaries to allow all of the eggs in a single cycle to mature (instead of the usual one) so you can freeze them for if and when you might need them later on. 

Once the follicles have reached an appropriate size, the eggs are collected during a quick procedure in the office. This retrieval process happens under light sedation and involves using a vaginal ultrasound and a long needle with a suction device to retrieve the eggs. I promise this sounds much more intense than it actually is! An embryologist (an expert in the science of egg freezing) looks at each egg and grades their maturity before freezing them. If you’re doing IVF, they’ll go through fertilization instead of being frozen.  

Can I get pregnant unassisted after egg freezing?

What you may have noticed from what was just explained is that egg freezing actually rescues all the other eggs that your body would otherwise allow to die during a normal menstrual cycle. So the process of egg freezing doesn’t take anything away from your egg reserve, it actually helps you save some extra eggs! And since during each cycle, your body goes through the ovulation process again with a new set of competing eggs, your chances of getting pregnant unassisted in the future also aren’t affected by egg freezing. 

What egg freezing does do is give you additional options for if and when you’re ready to start growing your family.

Egg freezing actually rescues all the other eggs that your body would otherwise allow to die during a normal menstrual cycle. So egg freezing doesn’t take anything away from your egg reserve, it actually helps you save some extra eggs!

Can egg freezing damage my ovaries?

Like any other procedure, there are risks and side effects when freezing eggs, including risks of anesthesia, bleeding, pain, and infection. Thankfully, the majority of people who go through with it deal with side effects for a few days at most. When it comes to the ovaries themselves, they generally recover quickly. While there isn’t a lot of data specific to egg donors (as opposed to people freezing their eggs for themselves), the overall data indicate that the potential risks of surgical complications from egg retrieval are generally very small. However, in people with a history of endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, pelvic adhesions or previous pelvic surgery, the risks are slightly increased so make sure to speak to your doctor about your medical history if you fall into any of these categories.

In terms of complications down the road, there are really two main ways by which egg retrieval might conceivably affect future fertility. The first way is by bleeding and infection from the procedure leading to adhesions (scar tissue) and the need for further surgeries. The second way is through trauma to the ovaries causing the creation of antibodies that may make fertilization of an egg more difficult.

Fortunately, there is no data that supports either possibility. According to one large study of over 7,000 IVF cycles, the rates of both infection and need for surgery to treat a pelvic abscess was 0.03% (about 1 in 3,000 IVF cycles). As for the scar tissue and antibodies, researchers have not found a higher rate of adhesions among people who have had an egg retrieval compared to those who haven’t nor have they found evidence that antibodies interfere with sperm’s ability to fertilize an egg. 

It’s up to you!

If you decide to go through with egg freezing, Freeze by Co is here to help. Our Split program allows those who qualify to freeze their eggs for free! In a Split cycle, you donate half of the eggs retrieved to a family that can’t otherwise conceive and freeze the remaining half for yourself. 

If you don’t want to donate, you can still participate in the Keep program, where you’ll be able to freeze your eggs and keep them all for yourself, on your timeline. In addition, you’ll have access to our online support community. This valuable resource lets you engage with other people freezing their eggs at the same time! 

Whatever you choose, our team is here to support you as you determine which family-building options are right for you!

So, you’ve already taken the first step and decided you want to pursue egg freezing, but now you’re asking yourself, “how do I tell people I’m freezing my eggs?” 

We get it, deciding to freeze your eggs is a huge decision, and talking about it with the people in your life can feel even more overwhelming, especially your romantic partner. However, having an open and honest conversation is a great way to ensure that both of you are on the same page. Here are some tips on how to approach the conversation.

Educate yourself first

Before you try to explain the egg freezing process to your partner, it’s important to have a clear understanding of it all yourself. Your partner is definitely going to have a lot of questions about the process, so make sure to spend some time researching the process, success rates, and cost involved so that you’re prepared to answer their questions. This will also help you approach the conversation with confidence and show that you’re not taking this decision lightly.

Talk about what this means for your future

We know, talking about family-building with your partner can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable, especially if the relationship is still new. However, it’s important to make sure your partner understands what freezing your eggs means for your future family planning (and why you’re choosing to freeze eggs instead of embryos). Whether you know you want to have kids someday or you’re still not sure, freezing your eggs is a great way to give yourself and your partner options down the line. And with Cofertility’s Split program, you can do so without the financial strain, by freezing your eggs entirely for free when you give half to another family. 

Freezing eggs vs. embryos

If you’re in a relationship with a biologically male partner, you may be wondering if you should freeze embryos instead of eggs. While it’s true that thawing success rates can be slightly higher for embryos than eggs (at a 95% survival rate vs 90% for eggs), the downside is that once an egg is fertilized with sperm, there’s no going back, so freezing eggs instead of embryos will give you more options down the line. We know, this might be a little bit of an awkward one to bring up with your partner, but it might come up at some point, so the best you can do is be prepared with the facts.

Prepare for their questions

If you think through the possible questions they could ask, you’ll feel more prepared and confident in answering them. This could include:

• Why are you freezing your eggs?
• What are the potential risks and side effects of egg freezing?
• What if you don’t need the eggs down the line?
• How long can you keep frozen eggs?
• How many eggs should you freeze to maximize your chances of a successful pregnancy?
• How many eggs do you think you’ll get? How many do you want?
• Are there any potential emotional or psychological effects of egg freezing?

Obviously you can’t predict every question that may be thrown your way. And if they ask a question that throws you off, you can just say “Great question, let me think about how to best answer that and get back to you”. 

Revisit the conversation often

Something as important as your fertility and reproductive future should never be a one-and-done conversation, so keep this conversation an ongoing one. It’s likely that your perspectives will evolve over time, so it’s important to keep the conversation fresh so you can address any concerns as they come up. If at any time you or your partner have questions, our team at Cofertility is always here to help.

Summing it up

The decision to freeze your eggs is extremely personal and life-changing in a lot of ways, so it’s crucial that you feel supported in this decision. We know approaching the conversation can be scary at first, but by following the tips we just mentioned, you’ll be able to have an honest, empathetic, open conversation with your partner about your egg freezing journey and your future.