# Experience of egg or embryo freezing while single...?



## Emmms (Aug 17, 2012)

Hi there

I'm 40 years old and about to have surgery for dermoid cysts which runs the risk of leaving me infertile or with very little ovarian tissue left.

Obviously I really, really want to have children, so I want to do all I can right now to preserve my fertility!!

I'm thinking about egg freezing, but as the success rate is so low I'm very seriously looking at embryo freezing using donor sperm - something I think I am going to do. And very soon! - I need to do this before my surgery date comes around.

Has anyone got any experience of all this - egg and embryo freezing, using an unknown donor, and also having dermoid cysts removed? Any thoughts on doing this whilst single? Especially as I do hold out the hope of meeting a partner in the future, and hopefully having children together - ideally naturally, but perhaps using an egg donor.

I'm with the NHS right now, but I do wonder if I should use a private London clinic. I'm also concerned about how best to find donor sperm. Cost is obviously an issue too, especially as I might need to use an egg donor in the future.

Would be great to hear if anyone has any experiences to share!

x


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## Diesy (Jul 19, 2010)

Hi Emms, sorry to hear of your predicament, I haven't done embie or egg freezing but from my research embies is the way to go.  Will the NHS freeze some for you?  I avoided the £1000 fee to use sperm here by planning treatment abroad, although some clinics with their own sperm bank don't seem to charge this.  I got my swimmers from European Sperm Bank.  They do import in to the UK.  From my time on the boards I would suggest you see a clinic here and try to get some embies organised.  Someone will be along in a minute if you need help picking a UK clinic.  Where abouts are you in the country?  There are clinics abroad that are also very good, Serum in Greece is excellent and a consultation via email is very easy to do.

Good luck!  Hope you aren't feeling too overwhelmed, there is a lot of it that goes about  

Diesy


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## indekiwi (Dec 23, 2008)

Emmms  

You might find the following thread useful to look through: http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=238115.0 NatClare (who is currently having an outrageously wonderful holiday in South Asia  ) posts on the single threads and has frozen her eggs - you might want to follow up on some of her posts. 

I have not had embryos using my own eggs frozen, but was a recipient of donor eggs and sperm and some of the embryos from that cycle were frozen - with one subsequently becoming my second little girl.   There are now many examples of singlies over 40 having children from frozen embryos comprising donated gametes on this site. All I would say is that at 40, the odds of you being successful with frozen embryos created from your own eggs are reduced, but then again, there are also likely many examples of success on FF - you just need to be aware of the reduced likelihood of success. However, if you would consider using donor eggs in future, at least you know you have a plan B. You can, as Diesy says, import DS from the ESB, Xytex or Cryos (sp?) if the hospital / clinic you choose to have treatment at doesn't have its own sperm bank. Sorry - I don't have any experience of dermoid cysts.

Hope some of this helps.  

A-Mx


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## Emmms (Aug 17, 2012)

Hi there...

Thanks so much for your posts...!

I'll take a look at that link, and what NatClare says too - thanks! I'm thinking very seriously of having embryos frozen using donor sperm, as the odds of success with egg freezing seem too low. Right now I'm trying to stay optimistic as I 'm keen to do my best with my own eggs first. Fingers crossed! I'm in London right now, and with the NHS, but as I've so far been told I have to pay I've been looking around at other clinics too. Any thoughts on the different clinics here, and also on sticking with the NHS? It seems so difficult to work out where's best! Though it's definitely all cripplingly expensive! I haven't looked into going abroad, but it does look much cheaper! How much would you expect to pay? Would you recommend?  Even if I don't go abroad right now for freezing, it seems like I should definitely plan to do so in the future for any IVF or donor egg treatment. I'm going to start making plans to use a donor egg - probably abroad - in the future. Where would be good, and what sort of things do you have to consider going abroad? I'll def have a look at Serum. And how did you find it using donor eggs? Was it easy to find a donor?

Thanks!!!

E


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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

While it is good to have donor eggs as a contingency, I really would not wait for this eventuality as there is no guarantee that DE will work first or even second time and I would always counsel that you get on with using your own eggs and donor sperm to create frozen embies right now as you are really risking ending up with no baby at all if you leave it too long.

Realistically, your best chance is via OE and DS ivf and to freeze embryos now to give you the best chance with your own eggs.

If you can afford it, I would go for the Lister as top priority as they are one of the top clinics in the country for ivf and for over 40s.

You could do both perhaps?  Take advantage of any NHS offer for embryo freezing plus get a consult with the Lister asap to talk over ivf asap with own eggs and donor sperm and freezing for transfer relatively quickly.  You could also ask the Lister whether you they actually do any other fertility preserving procedures at the same time, e.g. storing ovarian tissue?  But only do this in tandem with freezing embryos as the technology is in its infancy and cannot be relied on to be successful.

I am so sorry you are in this position.  But please do not count on DE.  It would be so much better for you and any child to use OE if you can, while you can.

Please don't pin your hopes on meeting someone, although it may happen, I would concentrate on banking some DS and OE embryos with NHS and top clinic asap before you get any older.

Your chances are diminshing for using OE at 40 honestly.  You cannot guarantee success with DE first go.

Go for it now is my advice!

Out of interest, has anyone mentioned whether ovarian tissue freezing is also an option at the time of surgery??

D xxx


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## Rose39 (Dec 9, 2007)

I'd also suggest maybe having a consult with Dr George Ndukwe at Zita West as he does very tailored protocols - it might also be worthwhile discussing with Dr Ndukwe whether he would recommend doing genetic screening on the embryos so only the normal ones are frozen. Once you reach 40, the proportion of eggs that are chromosomally abnormal are high (I was told only 1 in 6 is normal) but they may still fertilise and make embryos that look superficially ok. If you can weed out any abnormal embryos early on, then you know that the frosties that you have in reserve will have a high chance of resulting in a pregnancy. 

Good luck!

Rose xx


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## bingbong (Dec 9, 2008)

I think that bluprimrose also froze her eggs so she might have some advice, I'm not sure whether blubaby is a result of those frozen eggs or not though http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=42747

bingbong x


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## natclare (May 27, 2011)

Hello Emms,

Sorry for late reply. As Indekiwi has said, yes I have frozen some eggs but it is a bad, bad insurance policy and I know that. My story is a little different I suppose in that I was in a loving relationship for a long time and only broke up in June because he did not want (more) children. Whilst we were still together I had the opportunity to egg share and then freeze twice, hence basically free of charge. So despite this being a terribly poor insurance policy it was worth doing. I know that Rose has repeatedly told me both on here and in person I'd be better off freezing embryos and she is so right. I have just ummed and ahhed about it for so long and I too am still pinning my hopes on meeting a great guy to do this with (if you've had the misfortune to scroll through my posts you'll see the current game plan in technicolour!). 

Plus, on the freezing embryos side I really have not had the full information and my consultant (at the Lister) has not been very positive about it, largely I think because I am always so unsure about what I want to do when I see him. I think I am now getting to the point of being able to say "yes if I freeze embryos then there is a 95% chance I would use them" where-as there seems to be some ethical boundary my consultant doesn't want to cross. He has said in the past I must be sure I would be using them or at least trying to use them. I believe when I read up on this you have to use them within 5 years but someone might correct me. I would be VERY interested to know how you proceed if you do with frozen embryos because this is something I am increasingly likely to pursue myself.

My knowledge is limited but this I do know. I have eight eggs frozen and my consultant told me he would want thirty frozen to "guarantee" a pregnancy. Even then you have to realise this might not work. And I was 33 at my first consultation, I am 34 now.

There are plenty of stats on frozen embryos. This is a proven science, it works. Your downside is obviously having to accept DS.

As to advice... well, I am 35 next year and with reduced ovarian reserve (AMH level) I am basically constantly thinking about going it alone, either next year or the year after. You just don't get second chances in this life. I fervently hope that the "dating and mating" strategy works out but if it doesn't I just can't afford to hang around forever. It really is as simple as that. I would say at 40 you need to think in the same way, but move fast, very fast, and try and get your head around doing this without a partner, at least initially. I would hate you (or anyone) to miss out. 

In terms of recommending a clinic, I only have experience of the Lister but have found them to be excellent.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

xxx


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