Egg Freezing

At CCRM Fertility, we use the most advanced techniques to retrieve and freeze your eggs, and then thaw and fertilize them using in vitro fertilization (IVF) when you are ready to have a baby. This is all performed under one roof and on your timeline. As a leader in fertility treatment for 35 years, CCRM Fertility can help you preserve your fertility now and will be there when you want to conceive later.

Why Freeze Your Eggs

When it comes to fertility, age matters. As you get older, your eggs diminish in numbers and in quality making it more difficult to conceive or maintain a pregnancy. This change occurs at different rates in different women but does occur in everyone no matter how healthy you may be otherwise.

By the time you reach your late 30s, about half of your eggs will be chromosomally abnormal (too few or too many chromosomes). These chromosomal abnormalities often lead to failed implantation or miscarriage. Unfortunately, by the time you reach your 40s, you only have a 5% chance of becoming pregnant each month.

For women who are not ready to conceive but wish to try to preserve fertility for the future, freezing your eggs in your 20s and 30s allows you to take advantage of your body’s fertility at a time when your eggs are at their healthiest.

Get the egg freezing process started today. Find your local CCRM Fertility location or call (877) 201-6931!

Egg Freezing Process

Step 1: Fertility Testing and Assessment

First, you will meet with your CCRM doctor to discuss your medical history, needs and expectations. On the third day of your period, you will have blood work to assess hormonal function. The results of the fertility testing will help to provide us a picture of your current fertility status (“ovarian reserve”) and a vaginal ultrasound is performed to make sure that there are no structural abnormalities and to let us know how many eggs we may be able to retrieve. The results of these tests will allow your fertility doctor to assess your current fertility potential and to develop your personalized treatment plan.

Step 2: Ovarian Stimulation

Next, you will give yourself hormone injections to stimulate your ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible (the number should be reflected by your initial ultrasound evaluation). During the ovarian stimulation process, you will need to come to our office every few days to receive regular monitoring (ultrasound and blood work) to assess your response to the medications and to see if doses need adjusting. When your eggs have matured, your doctor will inform you that it is time to trigger the final stage of maturation and start the ovulation process (the release of your eggs) using a different injectable medication, which is referred to as “the trigger shot.”

During the ovarian stimulation process, you will need to avoid any exercise that is jarring to your pelvis in order to protect your ovaries, which will increase in size as the follicles (cysts that contain the eggs) also grow, as well as avoid consuming alcohol, caffeine, medications and many herbal supplements. Your doctor or nurse will discuss what medications and levels of activity are safe for you to take during stimulation.

You may experience symptoms similar to what you are accustomed to experiencing during your regular monthly menstruation, including fatigue, headaches, bloating, breast tenderness, cramping and mood swings.

Step 3: Egg Retrieval

Thirty-five hours after the “trigger shot,” your doctor will collect your eggs during a minor surgical procedure which is performed while you are under anesthesia, by placing a needle through the wall of your vagina into the follicles under ultrasound guidance. The day of the egg retrieval procedure, you will need a caregiver to drive you home and to stay with you for the rest of the day as the anesthesia wears off.

For a few days following your retrieval, you may be bloated and experience cramping and mild discomfort. You will be able to return to work within 24-48 hours following your retrieval and you will feel completely “back to normal” following your next period. We ask that you refrain from exercising until after your next period starts.

Step 4: Egg Freezing

Once your eggs have been successfully retrieved, all mature eggs will be vitrified (rapidly frozen) and stored securely until you’re ready to use them. The embryologist will let you know how many mature, healthy eggs have been frozen.

The entire process to prepare for egg freezing and to retrieve the eggs generally takes 2-3 weeks for most patients, but it can vary depending on the specifics of your situation.

Where You Freeze Your Eggs Matters

If you’re going to pause your biological clock, do it with a fertility clinic that is a global leader in fertility treatment.

All fertility clinics are not created equal. Before choosing an egg freezing clinic, visit the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) website. All SART–member fertility clinics are required to report success rates in a standardized manner and require its members to adhere to strict practice, advertising and ethical guidelines. Remember, not all clinics are SART members and, therefore, do not have to adhere to these guidelines!

Since your eventual goal is to have a baby someday, it’s important to make sure that you know that the clinic that you choose not only is able to freeze eggs, but has reported success after eggs are thawed.

Why Choose CCRM Fertility?

Science: What differentiates CCRM Fertility from other fertility providers is rooted in a deep commitment to consistently investing in new proprietary technology and scientific techniques that translates into superior outcomes and a family’s fastest path to a healthy baby.
Service: 97% of patients would recommend CCRM Fertility to family and friends.
Success: More than 100,000 babies have been born through fertility treatments at CCRM Fertility. We continually invest in our people, facilities, equipment and research to ensure we consistently maintain excellence in both success rates and patient satisfaction. You will be seen by caring and highly-skilled physicians in facilities that employ the latest technology resulting in consistently superior outcomes in all that we do.

You might also be interested in: Egg Freezing FAQ & Egg Freezing Costs

Egg Freezing FAQ

Q: How long does the egg freezing process take?

A: A timeline is dependent on the individual situation, but the egg freezing process from start to finish typically takes about 6 weeks for most patients, not including the initial consultation, testing, and treatment planning.

Q: What does the egg freezing process involve?

A: There are three main steps involved in the egg freezing process. First, you will need a fertility assessment involving blood tests and an ultrasound where your doctor can determine your current fertility status. Next, you’ll inject medications to stimulate your ovaries to grow as many eggs as possible. And the final step in the egg freezing process is the egg retrieval, where we will collect and freeze your eggs. (Learn more about the details involved in the egg freezing process)

Q: How many eggs should I freeze?

A: There is no hard and fast number or rule on how many eggs a woman needs to freeze. This number is usually based on your age, your past gynecological/medical history and your family history. It is individualized and should be determined by your doctor based on your situation.

Q: Is freezing your eggs painful?

A: Some women experience bloating and discomfort during ovarian stimulation (similar to PMS symptoms). The egg retrieval process is done under light sedation and is not painful. After the retrieval, you may experience some mild pain that you can treat with over-the -counter pain relievers.

Q: What are the side effects of egg freezing?

A: In rare instances (1-5%), “ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome” (OHSS) may occur during ovarian stimulation. OHSS is associated with swollen, enlarged ovaries and the collection of fluid in the abdominal cavity. After the egg retrieval, you might experience spotting, cramping and nausea for a few days.

Q: Do I have to stop birth control before I freeze eggs?

A: Since birth control pills or patches prevent ovulation, you will need to stop using it before starting the egg freezing process. You can resume using the pill or the patch after your egg retrieval. If you have an IUD, you don’t have to remove it during the egg freezing process.For women that have been using the pill or the patch for a long period of time, we often recommend a month “rest” period (aka stopping birth control for a month). The pill makes your ovaries go to sleep, effectively. So in an effort to maximize your response to fertility medications, we give them an extra month (a month off the pill) to wake up. If you don’t have the time or don’t want to take the month off it isn’t bad or wrong, it just may ultimately make the egg freezing cycle longer (extra days of meds to get those ovaries going!

Q: What is the best age to freeze your eggs?

A: There is no time like the present; if you come and see us at 38, do it then—don’t think about it for a year and do it at 40. The same goes for a woman who comes in at 30; your eggs are better at 30 than at 32, so if you are thinking about doing it, do it now. There is no “cut off” age but there is an age (generally >42) whereby your ability to produce eggs that are chromosomally normal is significantly reduced and it may not yield the results you are hoping for.

Q: How long can you freeze your eggs?

A: CCRM has had patients freeze their eggs and return to us 10 years later to have a baby. Basically, there is no expiration date on your eggs!

Q: Can you tell a good egg from a bad egg?

A: Unfortunately, we cannot. The only information we can tell you about your eggs is if they are mature or immature. A mature egg does not mean it is good quality, but it means that it is at the stage that it can be fertilized (only mature eggs can be fertilized). While there are certain parameters that point to good egg quality (young age) we cannot tell anything about the health of an egg until it is fertilized by a sperm.

Q: Do I need to prepare my body and change my diet before I start the egg freezing process?

A: While it’s always good to live a healthy life, your eggs have been there with you for your entire life. Making alterations in your lifestyle will likely not change your egg quality. The only exception here is smoking—smoking is not good for your eggs! The sooner you quit the better.

Q: Are there reasons some women may need to freeze their eggs more than others?

A: Yes! And that’s why it is important to not only share your medical/surgical/gynecological history, but also your mom’s, your sisters and your grandmother’s. We tend to mimic the female members of our family in terms of fertility. So if your mom went through an early menopause you might as well. Also if you have a history of any gynecological conditions (such as endometriosis or PCOS), you want to speak to a fertility doctor early!

Q: Will I hurt my future fertility by freezing my eggs?

A: If you don’t use them you lose them. Meaning, every month a group of eggs enter the race to become the one that is ovulated. The other eggs that “run the race,” but don’t win just die off. In short, egg freezing does not hurt your future fertility.

Q: How do I check my fertility?

A: Nothing can tell you if you are fertile or infertile other than your ability to get pregnant. People mistake a normal or an abnormal AMH as being fertile or infertile but that is NOT TRUE. AMH and an antral follicle count (AFC) tells you is about your follicle count (quantity). However nothing (other than your age and your ability to get pregnant) tells us about your quality.

Q: What does a low AMH mean?

A: Your Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) levels can help determine your ovarian reserve (how many eggs you have left). Typical AMH levels for a fertile woman is ~ 1.5–4.0 ng/ml. If your AMH is low, this could indicate low ovarian reserve. However, it does not mean that your quality is low!

Q: What makes one fertility clinic lab better than another?

A: There are many clinics that offer egg freezing, but many of the newer clinics have only frozen eggs (they haven’t thawed eggs or had success creating babies with the eggs they’ve frozen). We recommend finding a clinic that not only freezes eggs, but also performs IVF in-house. Make sure to ask for a clinic’s thaw rates and live birth success rates to get an idea of your chances of a having a baby in the future. The hardest procedures in fertility medicine are egg freezing and embryo biopsy. With egg freezing there is one cell; so you get one chance to do this right. You want to go to a clinic that does this time and time again. You can have good eggs, but if they are frozen in not the best way they won’t work later on!

Q: What are the different ways to freeze eggs?

A: The most effective way to freeze eggs is through a method called vitrification when the eggs are quickly frozen using nitrogen. This fast-freezing method prevents the fluid in the egg from forming ice crystals, which could damage it. The other method of egg freezing is called slow-freezing or controlled freezing, which freezes the eggs much more slowly, is prone to ice crystals and has lower rates of survival. Currently, almost all major clinics perform vitrification.

Q: Is egg freezing covered by insurance?

A: Most insurances consider egg freezing an elective procedure and is not covered by insurance. Some states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Rhode Island, have passed fertility preservation coverage bills that require coverage of egg freezing after a cancer diagnosis. We recommend consulting your HR/Benefits director to find out your specific fertility benefits.

Q: Can I ship my eggs to a different fertility clinic?

A: Once the eggs are frozen, they can be shipped. We prefer to ship frozen eggs within the CCRM network, so that we are confident with the thawing techniques. Since CCRM is a large network with clinics all over the country who practice embryology the same way, which is to your benefit.

Find Egg Freezing at a CCRM Fertility Clinic Near You

CCRM Fertility is proud to offer world-class fertility care all across North America. With clinics in most major cities or regions, we are dedicated to providing personalized and compassionate treatment to help individuals and families on their journey to parenthood. No matter where you are, CCRM’s expert care is never far away.