The process of egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, involves stimulating the ovaries with hormones to produce multiple eggs, retrieving the eggs from the ovaries (through a painless procedure under sedation), and vitrifying (i.e. freezing) them in the embryology lab where they will remain until you are ready to use them.

You may not be ready to have a child now and egg freezing can be an option to extend your timeline for when you are ready to become a parent.  As you age so do your eggs; freezing your eggs before the age of 35 will give you the best opportunity to use your own eggs to have a child in the future, while the eggs are at their healthiest.  The best way to decide if egg freezing is right for you is to speak with one of our experienced fertility specialists.

Once you decide to proceed with egg freezing, you can expect the entire process to take about three weeks from start to finish.  Your fertility nurse will be your guide and will make sure you are well-prepared.

Egg freezing typically entails 8–11 days of hormone injections to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs in one menstrual cycle, instead of the single egg they would typically produce. During this period, you’ll have 5–7 short “monitoring” visits where we will assess your progress and possibly make adjustments to your medication or schedule.  Finally, there’s a 25-minute minor procedure performed under mild anesthesia to retrieve the eggs from your ovaries.  Markham Fertility is the only clinic to provide deep sedation making egg retrieval a painless experience.  This whole process, from the beginning of the injections through to the retrieval, is called a “cycle.”

Once your eggs have been retrieved, they will be transferred to our laboratory where they will be frozen (vitrified) by our world-class embryology team. We will speak with you the same day to report on the number and quality of eggs that have been retrieved.

The number of eggs that you produce during an egg-freezing cycle will depend on a number of factors. The most important factor is your age.  We can predict the number of eggs by completing two tests.  By way of vaginal ultrasound, we are able to look at the number of follicles (antral follicle count), which is a good predictor of the number of eggs you will produce during stimulation.  We also order an anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) test, which is done by taking a blood sample.  Together these tests will help us estimate your total egg count and predict the number of eggs that will be available to freeze.  Knowing this information in advance will help you decide if you are a good candidate for egg freezing and how many cycles may be needed to acquire an optimum number of eggs to give you the best chance of a future healthy pregnancy.

Side effects are generally minimal and brief. If your ovaries contain a lot of eggs, you may experience bloating and minor discomfort towards the last few days of stimulation.  Some patients may experience moodiness or headaches. However, most people do not experience any significant side effects.

You have the option to donate your unused eggs to someone you know, but you’ll need to make this decision prior to starting your egg freezing cycle. This is because egg donors must undergo a series of tests, including infectious disease screening and a full physical, before they are cleared for donation. There is an additional cost associated with these tests. If you would like the option to donate your eggs to someone you know in the future, talk to your fertility physician. We do not currently offer the option of anonymous egg donation.

When freezing your eggs, you need to consider the cost of retrieving, freezing, and storing them and the cost of thawing them in the future. There are several aspects to consider when freezing your eggs:

Freezing your eggs: OHIP covers all investigative costs and consultations leading up to an egg-freezing cycle, with the exception of an AMH hormone test which is approximately $100.   At Markham Fertility Centre, an egg freezing cycle costs $8900 which includes 5 years of storage.  You can expect to pay an additional $3000 to $5000 in fertility medications.  Depending on your age and ovarian reserve, we may suggest more than one egg freeze cycle. Your doctor will help guide you with this decision. Also, keep in mind that some employers now cover the cost of egg freezing and medications in their insurance plans, so we recommend checking with your insurance provider.

Thawing and fertilizing eggs in the future:  It is difficult to predict what it will cost to thaw, fertilize, and implant your embryos in the future.  However, if you were to do so today, you can expect to pay $x.  Depending on the number of embryos created, you may have additional embryos to use should your first attempt be unsuccessful or should you wish to have a second child. The cost of each additional frozen embryo transfer is $x.  There may be other factors to consider that may be unique to your circumstances, such as genetic testing of embryos.  We will work with you to determine your current and expected future costs before you proceed.