Why should I consider egg freezing?
WFI routinely freezes eggs and the method that we use (known as vitrification) often results in fertilisation rates that are nearly as good as using fresh eggs
You might want to freeze your embryos if:
- You’re about to have another medical procedure such as chemo or radiotherapy and want to preserve your fertility
- You’re having IVF treatment, but for some reason, sperm is not available on the day of egg collection to inseminate the eggs.
We may not be able to tell you how many eggs will be suitable for freezing before you start your cycle but WFIs staff will be with you every step of the way to support and guide you through the process.
What does egg freezing involve?
You will start with a cycle of IVF, which includes stimulating the ovaries to produce multiple eggs which are then collected during a short procedure under mild sedation. We will then examine the collected eggs to determine how many are suitable for freezing. Suitable eggs are frozen in heat-sealed straws and stored in our secure cryobank.
When you’re ready to use your eggs, we will take your eggs from the cryobank and carefully warm it. If it survives (our survival rates are better than 85%), we will then use ICSI to inseminate each egg. Once embryos develop, the process proceeds in the same manner as a with fresh IVF.