How Much Does It Cost To Freeze Eggs In Canada
In Canada, it’s very expensive to freeze your eggs. You’ll need to outlay over $10,000 for the whole process. The median cost/cycle will be about $11,000. The average price for a fresh egg is about $3-4/egg and you can get 10 from a chicken for that price!
That means if you want to use your frozen eggs in the future and not have to go through the lengthy process of implanting them again, you’re looking at shelling out around 30 grand (and that doesn’t include any medical costs).
With that in mind, we decided to do a simple little survey of our own. We asked some of our readers to send us their personal stories, and then we put those stories through the gauntlet of truth.
What we found out was that once you’ve been through the hassle of having your frozen eggs harvested and stored, you probably will never have to go through it again. The most common reason for coming back for more eggs is for the reasons we’d all suspect: children.
The next most common reason was fertility issues; ovulation problems and PCOS were both mentioned fairly often.
Many women also wanted their old eggs thawed and reused because they felt they weren’t their own anymore; they don’t want to go through the process of sourcing new eggs again later on down the line when they’re ready to start a family.
Then we found out some interesting stuff; we asked the women if they had ever tried alternative fertility treatments such as IVF and/or IUI, and more than half of them said they had.
We also had one woman write in saying she used her frozen eggs for a surrogate pregnancy.
Several women said their egg retrieval process was too much of a hassle, that it still felt too invasive to them even after everything being done medically to make things easier for them; this was an issue with having the eggs harvested by a medical professional rather than an egg donor, or perhaps an egg donor who didn’t feel comfortable with the process herself.
Then we found out that, contrary to popular belief, you can use your frozen eggs after they’ve been thawed. Some women said they had tried this and found it worked well – others said they’d never go through with it at all.
Some women who used their frozen eggs experienced early miscarriages; the egg was always apparently immature and unable to implant in the uterus. The following suggestions are for women having trouble with this; some of these issues are related to not having an egg donor who was willing to donate her own eggs, or who was comfortable with the process herself (but perhaps wasn’t a match for that particular woman) – others are related to using stored mature eggs.
It seems the key to success is threefold: don’t use frozen eggs that have been in the freezer for longer than eight years. Use a fresh egg donor who is willing to donate her own eggs, or has had previous success with egg donation and doesn’t mind the process. (this was mentioned as being very helpful in my own case).
When you use your frozen eggs, thaw them at around 48 degrees and let them sit at room temperature for twenty minutes before you begin trying to implant them with your partner – this is because it’s hard to implant stored eggs straight away and you want the embryo to settle into place in the uterine lining before that happens. It should also help protect against premature freezing of the embryos themselves.
If you don’t have any luck with the above, you can always give it a chance to work and see if your uterus just happens to be inexplicably difficult to implant; some women reported that this worked for them. You can also ask your doctor to double the dosage of hormones used in the retrieval process. Just remember these tips: don’t use frozen eggs that have been in the freezer for longer than eight years.
Use a fresh egg donor who is willing to donate her own eggs, or has had previous success with egg donation and doesn’t mind the process. When you use your frozen eggs, thaw them at around 48 degrees and let them sit at room temperature for twenty minutes before you begin trying to implant them with your partner – this is because it’s hard to implant stored eggs straight away and you want the embryo to settle into place in the uterine lining before that happens.
If you don’t have any luck with the above, you can always give it a chance to work and see if your uterus just happens to be inexplicably difficult to implant; some women reported that this worked for them. You can also ask your doctor to double the dosage of hormones used in the retrieval process. Just remember these tips: what is the average cost of freezing eggs in toronto.
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How Old Should You Be When You Freeze Your Eggs?
Making the decision about when to freeze your eggs is extremely difficult because it is not as simple as “the younger the better.”
If you’re thinking about freezing your eggs, the HFEA recommends that you do so before your 35th birthday to ensure the best results. This is the best option if you want the best chance of success when compared to trying to conceive naturally, especially if you are over 40 years old.
According to Cutting, “the most important thing to consider when thinking about eggs is the age of the woman.” According to the researcher, “It is not the age of the woman when an embryo is placed back into her body, but the age of the egg when it was collected, that is critical.”
Although the concept of collecting eggs from a young woman and expecting her to be able to use them to become pregnant if she does not feel ready for it until many years later is appealing on paper, in practice it is unwise.
In fact, the average age of women who choose to have their eggs frozen is 38 years old. Because most women prefer to freeze their eggs later in life for a variety of reasons, most women in their 20s and 30s wait until later in life to do so: the younger you are when you freeze your eggs, the less likely you are to use them because you might conceive naturally; and the majority of women in their 20s and 30s do not have the financial means to freeze eggs in the first place.
Furthermore, even if young women choose to participate, it is possible that they will not be able to use their eggs by the time the 10-year storage limit expires (more on this below). Example: If an individual freezes their eggs when they are 20, they must use them by the age of 30 or risk their eggs perishing from the freezing process.
Consequently, if you freeze your eggs when they are very young, it is possible that you will not be able to use them by the time you are ready to take the plunge.
What Is The Success Rate Of Egg Freezing?
It’s important to remember that freezing your eggs does not ensure that your attempts will be successful. Despite advances in research and treatment, only 18 percent of patients who use their own frozen eggs in IVF treatment are successful, according to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
It should come as no surprise that fresh eggs have a higher success rate than frozen eggs and embryos when it comes to in vitro fertilization. “For an egg to go through the process of egg freezing is an invasive procedure. Cutting explains that “you have to hydrate, freeze, store, and thaw the egg, and not all eggs can survive this process.”
According to Create Fertility, as a result of advances in vitrification technology, eggs are now significantly more likely to survive the thawing process (with a survival rate of over 90 percent when the woman is under the age of 35).
Choosing to freeze your eggs in your late 30s, when fertility and the likelihood of an egg leading to pregnancy are already declining, may necessitate more than one cycle of treatment in order to collect enough eggs for storage.
The impact on your body, your life, and if you’re paying for treatment, your bank account will be greater. ” However, according to the HFEA, “you are more likely to use your frozen eggs in the future if you store them in the freezer.”
If frozen eggs do not result in a pregnancy, IVF (using fresh eggs) and adoption are both options for those who are unable to conceive naturally (using frozen eggs).
Cutting cautions that because egg freezing accounts for only 1.5 percent of all IVF cycles currently performed, there isn’t enough verified data to provide accurate egg freezing success rate statistics at the present time. In addition, she points out that “a lot of eggs are being frozen, but not many of them have been used yet,” referring to the relatively new but rapidly improving technology that is being used to carry out egg freezing.
Patients should seek counseling, consult with their doctor, and learn as much as they can about their chances of having a child, says Cutting. “It’s critical that patients seek counseling, consult with their doctor, and learn as much as they can about their chances of having a child,” she says. “It’s wonderful to be in control of your fertility, but you have to be realistic about your expectations.”
When it comes to the price of egg freezing, it depends.
The majority of women who choose egg freezing do so on their own dime, with no assistance from the government.
Although the costs vary depending on the clinic, they are typically in the range of $10,000 CAD for egg extraction and freezing as well as $300 CAD per year for egg storage and $6,000 CAD to cover the cost of one IVF cycle.
Is Egg Freezing A Risky Procedure?
Overall, egg freezing is a safe procedure; however, some patients experience side effects from the fertility drugs, which can range from mild discomfort to more serious issues in some cases.
THE MAIN RISKS OF FERTILITY TREATMENT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
- A syndrome characterized by multiple pregnancy ovarian hyperstimulation (OHSS)
- Birth defects could result from an ectopic pregnancy (the authority notes that this is rare and research is ongoing)
How Long Can Eggs Be Kept In Storage?
It is generally accepted that eggs can be stored for up to ten years, but in some cases, such as when a patient becomes infertile prematurely as a result of medical treatment, it may be possible to keep them frozen for up to 55 years.
The HFEA has described the current limit as “too restrictive” and proposes a number of conditions, including that the patient provide new written consent to storage every 10 years (up to a maximum of 55 years) and that a clinic provide the patient counseling before they consent to every additional 10 years of storage after the first 10.
Regardless of the time limit, it is critical that a woman keeps her clinic informed of any changes in her address or contact information, as if the clinic is unable to contact you by the end of the 10-year consent period, it may be forced to remove your eggs from the clinic’s storage.
How Does It Affect Your Eggs If You Decide To Cook With Them?
Whenever a woman decides to use her eggs, she must first make contact with the clinic in order to discuss the thawing process. After being frozen, eggs must be fertilized using a procedure known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). This is necessary because the freezing process strengthens the coating around the eggs, making it more difficult for sperm to penetrate.
If you’ve frozen your eggs and don’t want to use them, you have a variety of options to choose from. Alternatively, you can donate them to research to assist the medical community in learning more about infertility and treatments, donate them as samples for trainee embryologists to use in order to practice different techniques, or donate them to someone else.
