Julia Chain
Chair, HFEA
If you want to preserve your fertility, whether before medical treatment that can affect your fertility or if you’re not yet ready for a family, you might want to consider freezing your eggs or embryos.
Before having fertility treatment, you’ll need to give written consent to ensure your eggs and/or embryos are used and stored in a way you’re happy with and comply with the law. Clinics must also offer counselling before you give consent, and they have a legal duty to ensure your wishes are respected.
Your clinic is responsible for making sure you understand your treatment and decisions. Some areas where you’ll need to give consent include: the type of treatment, how long to store your eggs or embryos and difficult questions such as what will happen to your eggs or embryos if you die or lose the ability to decide for yourself.
Egg freezing
Egg freezing preserves a woman’s fertility so she has the option to delay having children to a later date. The process takes around two to three weeks. First, you’ll need to be tested for any infectious diseases, then you’ll start the IVF process, which involves taking drugs to boost your egg production and help the eggs mature.
When the eggs are ready, they’ll be collected while you’re under sedation, and the eggs will be frozen. When you want to use the eggs, they’ll be thawed and used in your treatment. Egg freezing isn’t a guarantee of having a baby, and some factors should be considered when deciding if it’s right for you.
Egg freezing preserves a woman’s fertility so she has the option to delay having children to a later date
Freezing embryos
Embryo freezing involves going through IVF, during which good-quality embryos are frozen and stored so that it may be possible to have a baby later. Both you and the sperm provider, whether your partner or sperm donor, must consent for the embryos to be stored. You’ll also need to discuss with your clinic how far in the future you might want to use stored embryos, and the potential costs involved in storing them. Always tell your clinic if your contact details change, in case they need to contact you.
Our Choose a Fertility Clinic tool can help you find the best licensed fertility clinic in the UK by postcode and treatment offered.
