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How old do you have to be to freeze your eggs?
Many women today are choosing to wait to start a family. You may have career goals you wish to achieve, or you may not be financially or emotionally ready for a child. It may be that you have not found the right person to start a family with. Whatever your situation, your reasons for delaying parenthood are valid.
Freezing your eggs for use in future fertility treatment is a way of preserving your fertility so that you have more options for starting your family later on. Whilst freezing your eggs doesn’t guarantee a successful future pregnancy, it does allow you to try treatment at a time that is right for you and your circumstances.
The optimal age for egg freezing
Women are born with a finite number of potential eggs—approximately one to two million. This means you are born with all the eggs you will ever have, and this number decreases every single year, even before puberty begins. By age 25, the average woman will likely have 300,000 eggs remaining in their ovaries.
Technically, you can freeze your eggs at any age (up until menopause). However, you will have a greater chance of success with fertility treatment in the future the earlier you decide to do it. This is because the quality of your eggs does also fall with the number.
Certain conditions, such as PCOS and endometriosis, will affect your fertility earlier on, but for most women, fertility begins to gradually decline from the age of 30, with an accelerated decrease in the quantity and quality of your eggs occurring in your late thirties, continuing until menopause.
To ensure healthy and viable eggs are collected, we recommend freezing your eggs between 25 and 35 years of age.
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The effects of ageing on egg quality
The quality of a woman’s egg is pivotal for her fertility and her ability to have a baby. Higher quality eggs are more likely to develop into an embryo, implant in the uterus and result in a successful pregnancy.
The quality of an egg is determined by whether it is chromosomally “normal” (euploid) or “abnormal” (aneuploid). A normal embryo will have a total of 46 chromosomes—23 each from the egg and sperm.
Due to the decline in the quality of your eggs as you age, older women are at a higher risk of miscarriage, chromosomal abnormalities and birth defects. This is because there is an increasing numbers of aneuploid eggs which contain either too few or too many chromosomes.
For women choosing to freeze their eggs in their late thirties, preimplantation genetic testing would be recommended for any embryos created from those eggs to screen for any genetic conditions or abnormalities.
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Preserving your fertility as a woman at different ages
Whilst technically you can freeze your eggs at any age up until the point of menopause, however, most fertility clinics in the UK will have an age limit of 45.
Like with anything fertility related, the younger you are, the greater chance of success you will have. Making the decision to freeze your eggs early on will not only ensure higher quality eggs are collected but also increase the likelihood of successful fertilisation, implantation and pregnancy when you undergo fertility treatment later on.
That said, preserving your fertility is a significant financial commitment and not one that everyone can afford. A fertility assessment may assist your decision-making, giving you key information regarding your current fertility potential.
In your twenties
Provided you have no known fertility challenges, it is likely that a woman in her twenties will fall pregnant within one year of trying to conceive. However, if starting a family isn’t in your current plan and you think you’re likely to wait until your thirties to try and conceive, we recommend freezing your eggs now for optimal success.
Most women can expect to have between 10-20 eggs collected during the egg retrieval process. This should ensure there are viable eggs to freeze for use in future fertility treatment.
In your thirties
Many women who decide to freeze their eggs for social reasons make the decision in their early thirties. Though earlier is better, you still have a greater chance of success with freezing your eggs between the ages of 30 and 35 compared to 35 and over.
Put into context, for women under the age of 35 at the time of freezing, the pregnancy rate is estimated to be 30% per cycle of treatment with frozen eggs. For women aged between 35 and 40 at the time of freezing, the pregnancy rate is around 15% per cycle.
Late thirties and over
If you’re in your late thirties or early forties, you may still be a good candidate for egg freezing depending on your health and circumstances. A fertility assessment will enable your fertility clinic to gather a better understanding of your fertility health and whether fertility preservation is an option for you.
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Find out more about egg freezing with TFP Fertility
TFP Fertility is here to support you through every step of your fertility journey. If you'd like more information on freezing your eggs, our experienced team is available to provide guidance and care tailored to your unique needs.
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