A 30-year-old woman from Victoria, diagnosed with endometriosis, is freezing her eggs as a precautionary step due to potential fertility challenges. While reports suggest that 30 to 50 percent of women with endometriosis face infertility, recent high-quality studies estimate this rate closer to 10 to 15 percent.
For me, it’s a bit of an insurance policy, though I know there are no guarantees with egg freezing,” Chandler explained to ABC Radio National. She hopes to use her frozen eggs within two to three years, depending on factors like housing stability, career progression, and relationship status.
Egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, is commonly marketed as a safeguard for future fertility. However, Monash University’s senior research fellow Karin Hammarberg likens it more to a lottery than a sure solution. “An insurance policy suggests a guaranteed outcome, but with egg freezing, there’s no certainty that the eggs will lead to a successful pregnancy,” she notes. Research corroborates this uncertainty, showing that only a fraction of women ultimately use their frozen eggs, with some experiencing live births.
Chandler began her fertility journey with an anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) test, a disputed “egg timer” test that some experts argue doesn’t directly gauge fertility. Following this, she was referred to a fertility specialist, embarking on a regimen of injections, scans, blood tests, and a final egg retrieval. According to Dr. Charley Zheng, a fertility expert with Adora Fertility, this entire process takes around two weeks, with eggs being surgically retrieved under sedation.
Dr. Zheng adds that each egg-freezing cycle costs between $5,000 and $10,000, with some women requiring multiple cycles to achieve an adequate number of eggs. Annual storage costs add another $500, though medical subsidies are available in certain cases.
Statistics reveal that a small percentage of women return to use their frozen eggs, typically ranging from 6 to 20 percent. A 2021 study found a return rate of 7.4 percent, while a recent review set this figure at 11.1 percent. Data from Monash IVF clinics indicate that fewer than 13 percent of patients return each year to use their eggs, with many conceiving naturally instead. Dr. Hammarberg explains, “The younger a woman is when she freezes her eggs, the less likely she is to return to use them.”
Of those who do attempt pregnancy, over half opt for fresh eggs via intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF). Success rates vary, but research shows that between one in five and one in three women who use their frozen eggs eventually have a live birth, with younger egg-freezing age associated with higher chances of success.
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