Egg freezing has become an increasingly popular option for individuals seeking to preserve their fertility and expand future family planning possibilities. With advances in reproductive medicine, patients now have access to more accurate testing, innovative methods, and personalized care to guide their decisions.
At Olive Fertility, reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist Dr. Riki Dayan works with patients every day who are weighing this choice, offering guidance on the process and the factors that matter most. Below, she shares what the journey looks like and what prospective patients should keep in mind.
What is egg freezing?
The egg freezing process is the same as traditional IVF. It involves injecting medications to stimulate egg growth to the point they can be harvested. However, instead of fertilizing the eggs with sperm, the eggs are flash-frozen and stored until you are ready to conceive sometime in the future. When thawed, the eggs are fertilized in a lab to hopefully create viable embryos that can then be transferred into the uterus.
Importantly, your chance of pregnancy depends on the age your eggs were frozen, not when you use them.
Empower yourself with knowledge
While fertility experts identify age 35 as when a person’s fertility starts to rapidly decline, the fact is we are all unique and in some individuals their egg quantity declines sooner than others. So, if you are considering egg freezing, it is important to have a complete fertility assessment with a fertility specialist.
How to get started
Your first step is to get a referral to a fertility clinic from your family doctor or a virtual clinic like Rocket Doctor. In B.C., your consult and most tests are covered by MSP with a referral.
Your fertility assessment
A fertility assessment includes a simple blood test that indicates your ovarian reserve. Ovarian reserve testing helps predict the number of retrievable eggs you would get from an ovarian stimulation cycle. Ovarian reserve goes down with age. If your ovarian reserve is lower than the average for your age you might decide to proceed with egg freezing sooner rather than later or discuss other family building options with your fertility specialist.
AMH (Anti Mullerian Hormone) and egg freezing: What it really tells you and what it doesn’t
AMH (Anti Mullerian Hormone) is a key marker of ovarian reserve – basically, how many eggs your ovaries might still have.
- Higher AMH levels suggest a stronger response to fertility medications and more eggs retrieved.
- Lower AMH levels may mean fewer eggs, with earlier freezing recommended.
However, AMH does not measure egg quality, natural fertility or how long fertility will last.
What does the egg freezing cycle look like?
The process typically takes two to three weeks and involves three main stages:
- Ovarian Stimulation: Hormone injections for 10-14 days to stimulate ovaries to produce multiple eggs while monitored through blood tests and ultrasounds.
- Egg Retrieval: Once follicles are ready, a “trigger shot” matures the eggs. About 36 hours later, eggs are collected in a short procedure under light sedation
- Freezing (Cryopreservation): Mature eggs are frozen using vitrification, a rapid-freezing method that preserves integrity, and stored in liquid nitrogen until needed
How to choose a fertility clinic for egg freezing
Choosing the right clinic is crucial. The most important factor is their experience with the process.
Ask how many elective egg freezing cycles they perform yearly. Clinics with higher volumes (over 200) tend to have more refined protocols and better outcomes.
What are their egg thaw survival rates? Top clinics report 90%+.
Important Note: Freezing your eggs doesn’t guarantee a future pregnancy, but the good news is that if you decide to have IVF with your frozen younger eggs when you are in your 40’s, your chance of success will be the same as if you were still in your 30’s.
Dr. Dayan, MD FRCS is a Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility specialist at Olive Fertility Centre Victoria.
Olive Fertility Centre is one of Canada’s largest fertility clinics, offering an advanced IVF lab, personal care teams and innovative programs that include the PGT-A, specialized genetic testing, egg freezing, and prenatal NIPT testing.
Find out your chances of conceiving
Olive Fertility has designed an online calculator for you to determine your likely success for pregnancy through IVF based on the number of eggs you have frozen. Learn more here.
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