Can social freezing really stop the biological clock? How long can you freeze your eggs? And what are the chances of getting pregnant? Here you can find out the most important things you need to know if you are thinking about social freezing.
Women today want more from life than they did a few decades ago. They are better educated, independent and have dreams and goals. They are looking for equal partnerships, many have a fulfilling job, perhaps want to pursue a career and start a family. But while it is easy for most men to juggle everything, there is one factor that sets limits on how women can live their lives if they want children: the famous ticking of the biological clock.
Unlike men, who continue to produce sperm throughout their lives, women are born with a certain number of eggs, the quality of which decreases with each passing year, particularly after the age of 35. With each passing year, the likelihood of becoming pregnant decreases.
Stop the biological clock?
A frequently discussed topic in this context is egg freezing. In so-called social freezing, unfertilized eggs are removed from the woman and cryopreserved in order to preserve the quality of the eggs. “The idea behind this is that women with young eggs can become pregnant even at an older age, i.e. at a time when it would no longer be possible with their older eggs – or even at a time when they no longer have any eggs,” explains reproductive medicine specialist Prof. Dr. Inka Wiegratz from the Fertility and Hormone Center in Frankfurt am Main.
Not only can you have your own children at an older age, but using younger eggs also reduces the risk of miscarriages and chromosomal abnormalities, which increase with the mother’s age. This is because this is also linked to the quality of the eggs. But even if the eggs are younger, the body of the expectant mother is not. Even if a pregnant woman becomes pregnant with younger eggs, she is considered a high-risk patient from the age of 35, as she carries other risks that younger women do not normally have.
How does social freezing work?
In order to obtain a good number of eggs, the woman must give herself an injection every day for about eight to ten days to encourage egg maturation. If the follicles are large enough, ovulation is triggered by an injection. The eggs must now be removed by puncture within about 36 hours. It is important to be flexible with the treatment period and not to have any appointments in between. After all, every stimulation cycle is different for each individual and there is only a limited window of time for removing the eggs.
How much does social freezing cost?
Including medication, social freezing costs around 2,500 to 3,000 euros. The older the woman, the fewer eggs can usually be removed, so some women have to freeze twice to even have a chance of becoming pregnant with these eggs.
“Most women currently come at around 37 years of age. Let’s assume that 15 eggs can be obtained from the patient. Of these, around 13 are mature and can be frozen. The thawing survival rate is around 80 percent. If the patient is lucky, they might have ten eggs; if they are unlucky, they might only have six. Of these, only around 70 percent can be fertilized and go into embryo culture. The aim is then, around five days later, to transfer one embryo, or in exceptional cases two embryos. It is therefore clear that a certain amount of loss is recorded at every step in the treatment chain. Overall, it is assumed that, depending on the woman’s age at the time of freezing, the pregnancy rate is 20 to 40 percent per transfer.”
Many women lull themselves into a false sense of security when they think that it will work when they are over 40.
If a patient comes for treatment at the age of 40 or 41, perhaps only five eggs can be obtained. The lower chances of success are easy to calculate.
There is no guarantee
It is important to know that social freezing always involves artificial insemination. The eggs that are removed are not reinserted into the woman’s body; they are thawed, checked to see if they have survived, and fertilized using sperm injection (also known as ICSI). If fertilization is successful, the fertilized egg is cultivated further and the embryo is inserted into the uterus. And that, in turn, involves additional costs. Possibly also the cost of hormone treatment, explains the gynecologist.
What many women often do not realize when they decide to take this route is that no matter how many eggs are stored, there is never a 100% guarantee that a pregnancy can be achieved.
Many women are too late
If you look at the data from the German IVF Register, you can see that fertility decreases significantly at the age of 35. “Many women are lulled into a false sense of security when they think that it will still work when they are over 40. I often have women who come to me at that age and don’t even know that they are already close to the end of their reproductive phase and have only a very small chance of becoming pregnant with their own eggs.”
The situation is similar when it comes to freezing eggs: at the age of 38, it is far too late, explains the endocrinologist. “The optimal time for freezing eggs is between the ages of 32 and 35. If women are younger, they often still meet a suitable partner and become pregnant on their own. So they have frozen for nothing. In women over 38, on the other hand, only an insufficient number of mature eggs can be obtained for later use. Many women who, for example, do not meet a partner until they are over 40, also decide against using the frozen cells because they are deciding against late parenthood.”
What happens to the unused eggs?
In principle, women can freely use their eggs. Abroad, they could still have the eggs fertilized and implanted at the age of 60. Although there is no legal age limit in Germany, most clinics carry out the treatment up to the natural age of menopause (around 50 years). The eggs can of course also be discarded. Donating eggs is not permitted in Germany, however.
Eggs without an expiration date?
But how long can you freeze eggs? Do they go “bad” at some point? No, says Prof. Inka Wiegratz. “It is assumed that long-term storage does not harm the eggs.” Even a very long storage period does not reduce the survival rate when thawed. There are women who have had their fertilized eggs implanted after more than ten years of cryopreservation and whose children are completely normal.”
Is social freezing even worth it?
“Ultimately, every woman has to answer this question for herself. For some women, it may be a very good option to create an egg reserve at a young age. Many of my patients report that they feel a little more liberated after freezing their eggs because their biological clock is no longer breathing down their necks.
However, I always advise my patients who come for social freezing advice to think about having their children at a younger age, provided they have the right partner. My experience shows that the right time to have children is very rare and if you put off family planning for too long because of career plans, it may not work out naturally later on. In my opinion, we in Germany should promote the compatibility of work and family much more so that we can enable women to have children at a younger age again without having to fear a career setback.”
Prof. Dr. med. Inka Wiegratz headed the Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproduction department at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main for many years. In addition to her teaching activities, she regularly gives lectures at national and international congresses. She currently works as a senior physician at the Fertility and Hormone Center Frankfurt – Am Palmengarten.