I am having my eggs frozen with CRGH and have asked them for statistics on the % chance of 1 live birth with 20 eggs frozen at age 37 (I am just about to have my third and final round, so am estimating I will have 20 eggs total, yet to see).
They have sent me their stats on live births from thaw cycles and frozen embryo transfers, but have said they do not have stats on the % change of live births from x number of eggs frozen.
Quite frustrating as it now feels like I do not have a clear grasp of my chances if (hopefully when) I find a partner and if I was to use them.
Appreciate it is never an exact science and depends on egg quality which I cannot know until/unless I go to use, but does anyone have any stats on how many eggs and corresponding % chance of live births from that they can share?
x
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Eggfreezing36
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Thanks, so how many eggs do you think in total? I am aiming for 20 but to be honest, after chatting to the clinic it seems this is the minimum amount they advise. Not so keen to do a 4th though due to health implications of stimulating the ovaries so much...
I don't think I would do a sperm donor option to be honest. In the UK where I am, nursery is £1.8k per month. On top of food, mortgage and living I am in awe of how any woman goes it alone! Also not sure I wouldn't feel very isolated and alone, it's not for me having a child by a donor.
So for me I am slowly and sadly making peace with the fact that if my man doesn't show up I just will not have a child, hence sticking to egg freezing.
I know it can appear very daunting, but am always happy to chat through any concerns you might have about becoming a solo mum. There’s a fab U.K. Facebook group and there are solo mums (or those considering it) from all walks of life there who also would be willing to share their stories. I’d hate for anyone to miss out on the chance to be a mum because they’re worried about if they could make it work.
I think it's not possible in the UK because nursery is £1.7k a month, so you'd have to be earning £200k plus to make that work! I really don't know if it's for me, I'd be very isolated and lonely...
I am in the UK, and earn nowhere near £200k and I make it work. My daughter is 18 months, and I’m back at work full time (doing compressed hours). Childcare costs can be part subsidised by universal credit, depending on earnings, and there’s also the govt tax free childcare. Plus the govt changes to childcare should mean 30 hours free care for babies from 9 months within the next couple of years.
There are also lots of great local support groups for all areas of the country arranged via the Facebook group, so there’s no need to feel isolated either. I really would recommend joining the group, there are plenty of people in there still trying to decide on this journey, and you’d definitely find people in the same situation willing to talk to you about their journey / thoughts. Please do reach out directly if you have any specific questions x
Interesting. I wouldn't get the subisidies as earn over 100k, but the idea of 1.7k per month is too terrifying for me really. I am self employed too so it's less secure. Thank you, I will keep in mind as not ready at 37 but if i reach 40 i may well change my mind xx
You didn't don't worry. Who knows if I regret it, but I just cannot fathom doing it alone, got the utmost respect but the cost, the isolation etc, I don't know if I would be happy so just carrying on with the rubbish-ness that is dating!
Oh yeah I could go on for ages about dating; and how shit most men are lols.So trust me I feel you! They all want to do so much better than they deserve so most women I know have to majorly compromise.
However you then still have a co parent and also someone to financially contribute! These are two things I think I need. Even if the guy didn't want anything to do with the child (rare I hope) I'd ensure he paid financially, lols.
I don't know stats on eggs that are frozen resulting in live births. However for fresh eggs I over the age of 35 on average 30% to 50% of eggs will result in an embryo making it to day 5 for implementation then around 50% of these will result in pregnancy and 23.5% of pregnancies will result in a live birth. So I would say bank as many eggs as possible. Of course these are just averages every woman's egg quality is different and sperm quality is also a big factor so if you do find Mr right make sure he gets detailed sperm tests not just the basics before you go ahead with fertilisation.
Yep, I think 20 eggs frozen is the minimum I should have after chatting with the clinic. However once I have done 3 rounds I don't know if it's good to put my body through more, so have to think xx
I did one in April I think, then another end June and then the final third end August, so a bit quicker with the third one but after this I won't be doing any more this year. I will consider a 4th but I worry about ovarian cancer risk increase, so I need to really think. Thank you :0) xx
Very hard to say because the number does not always guarantee quality. One round I had 19 eggs and only one embryo. Another round I had 14 eggs and no embryo. Another I had 15 eggs and three embryos! The only way to test quality is to make embryos and freeze them - perhaps do half donor sperm and half eggs just frozen to give you the best chances and options later on xx
Hi there, I’m not sure on the stats but wondered if you could use some of the eggs with a sperm donor and freeze embryos ? That way you would have both frozen eggs and embryos to make a decision at a later date. Although right now you may feel you can’t go it alone things can change and you will have options for the future at least x
It's an option. I think I worry that takes away from my eggs to use with a possible future partner though. I am really not sure tbh. As it feels like I need to have MINIMUM 20 eggs, ideally more. If I had say 30 + eggs I would consider doing some embryos tho...
I get you, I tried with my own eggs for years and had good blasts but no pregnancy then ended up single in my early 30s. I’m 41 now and have the most amazing partner and we’re trying with donor eggs as mine aren’t great now. You just never know what the future brings. My best friend used a donor and it’s just been her and her little girl for years plus all of us stepping in to help… now she’s now met someone and they are trying for a baby. Life brings us so many hurdles - good on you for freezing eggs now. I wish I had for when I got my Mr Right x
I guess there's never any guarantees. I am 37 and so even with 20 eggs it is no guarantee that I will get a baby from it, and the way dating is I don't see myself meeting someone for some time!
I think the most important thing is to find the right partner really, I think I'd be happier with that than being on my own with a baby. As being single is sooo lonely. Although obviously we all wish for both! I hope it goes well with your donor eggs xx
hey there I froze my eggs at 40 as was single. I did 2 cycles and got 28 eggs. I later thawed them all with my partner later on. Out of 28 eggs I got 4 embryos and out of them 1 resulted in a live birth. With hindsight, I wish I did 3 cycles to get more eggs. Hope this helps you.
That's incredible you got 28 eggs from 2 cycles, and at 40! I am 37 and I got 6 eggs from cycle 1, 7 from cycle 2, so 13 from 2 cycles. They are upping my stims slightly for this cycle but I am looking at approx 20 eggs from 3 cycles I think.
My worry with doing a 4th cycle is the risk to the body, I made the mistake of googling ovarian cancer risk so I will consider a 4th but I am a bit nervous. However 1 live birth from 28 eggs does show me that 1 live birth from my estimated 20 eggs is not guaranteed so maybe I need to consider a fourth round next year.
I would definitely consider it as the more you have the better 😊. I was not aware of the ovarian cancer risk. Will definitely read up on that. I’m now 45 and going through stims to see if I have any eggs left. Wishing you the best of luck. Xx
Just one thing to add, and sorry that it is not the answer to what you were asking, but there are some co-parenting websites where you find people who are just interested in co parenting. I looked into this once at a time when I was considering going solo. Also, if you ever consider doing another freezing cycle there are lots of supplements you could take to improve the quality of the egg, but mostly high doses of bioavailable folic acid and coq10 (600&900 mg per day)
I am now 43 but was in the same situation at your age and can feel the struggle with dating. I did meet someone decent in the end ..
That's a good point and I had seen that. I think I may look into a co parenting site when I hit 40. I would be OK with that, I just need someone to co parent and split finances with! That's amazing you met someone decent in the end, congrats. It really does feel hopeless to me on the dating apps, such a bad selection lol.
Re supplements, I am on coq10 Ubiqnol and taking 200 mg of that per day (I think that's the right amount?). 75mg per day of DHEA, Pregncare max conception and Vit D. I think Pregnacare has the folic acid in?
I think the advice is now for 600-900 mg of coq10 daily .. so higher dose.If you are considering co-parenting as an option then you might want to try and get some embryos out of your eggs. I am not sure whether all people interested in co-parenting would want a biological child or if they are just interested in the parenting. In any case you may even be able to consider co-parenting with another woman. You would just have more guarantees of success and more options I guess, if you are strongly motivated to have a child and possibly a sibling.
I think a lot of women focus on the first child and then feel gutted when that works out and they are unable to have another child as they did not bank enough embryo/eggs.
I froze my eggs in 2020. Had 12 eggs retrieved, only 7 mature and these were frozen. I was 35 and got to this year with no partner. I knew I didn't have many and that the likelihood of getting 1 embryo was quite low. I think they used to say 18% live births with egg freezing? (Can't remember where I saw that). But that was before the advances in freezing and thawing. This year, I decided to do a fresh cycle, donor sperm and add my thawed eggs into the fresh batch to fertilise all. 6 of the thawed eggs survived and all of those fertilised (very uncommon for this to happen), I got 2 x day 5 blastocysts from my 7 frozen eggs. The fresh eggs I got 14, 13 were mature and only 7 fertilised, I got 1 x 5 day blastocyst from the fresh/older eggs. I did a fresh transfer of one of the frozen egg embryos and it didn't work but have 2 frzoen. I'm not saying you should fertilise yours at all - circumstances change and I didn't do it for 3 years. I only chose to do it because I had a low number and I just wanted to get the next hurdle out the way to see where I stood. I spoke to a friend who was a single mum by choice and decided it was the right time for me. But i totally get just having the eggs frozen for future partner use. The embryologist said its very rare to get a higher success of thawing and fertilising and day 5 embryo with the frozen eggs than a fresh cycle, he couldn't explain it and said he's only seen that once before (egg freezing is not as common anyway). I always had in my head you need at least 10 eggs frozen for 1 embryo because of the drop off rate of thawing (80% success of thaw is what I was told) and then the usual % loss at each stage. But its not an exact science unfortunately, I just told myself in 2020 I wanted to just feel like I'd tried my best to make it possible to have children in the future, and ones that have younger chromosomes etc. Wishing you all the best, it sounds like you're in a good position. X
So I had a 40 min call with the embryologist; and he explained how yes it's not an exact science because it's to do with egg quality and you can get several blastocysts from say 9 eggs. He did say in general:
50% survive thawing, so 20 eggs to 10, then 40% form blasts, so that's 4 blasts. Then out of 4 blasts on average 2 will be decent. So out of 2 blasts, he said if I then fertilised and froze as embroys with genetic testing, at their clinic it's a 71% chance of live birth. So it goes down crazily quick but outcome could be better or worse than this.
I think 20 eggs is the minimum from what he said, but as you found, you can get great blasts with less eggs.
Also I am 37 and so you freezing at 35 is much better.
I think it's amazing you are doing it yourself, in London the idea of paying £1,700 a month for nursery alone is just too difficult for me to fathom.
I felt the same as you do now when I froze my eggs after years of trying to find the right man. Fast forward and unfortunately it didn’t happen and I was quite sure I would not do this alone as I could not manage but I have done a 360. I am currently doing this with donor sperm. It’s wise to freeze your eggs and just know you may change your mind in the future, if you don’t that’s ok, you just need to do what’s right for you, right now. All the best Xx
I am sorry to hear this Egg freezer. I can really relate, sometimes it does feel hopeless to find the right man. The selection of them is just so rubbish. How old were you when you decided to go ahead with donor sperm? Maybe I will change my mind but I struggle with the idea right now, however I am glad it has worked out for you and hope it goes/is going well
I actually did 3 rounds of egg freezing in my late 30s, and got 14 eggs total. Unfortunately only 2 survived the thaw (this is very unusual and unfortunate), one fertilised but didn't result in pregnancy.I'm a solo mum and now have a beautiful baby girl after going the double donor route.
One thing a few of the other solo mums did that I wish I'd done in hindsight is to freeze embryos not eggs. They chose a sperm donor and used that to make embryos.
Obviously this then rules out being able to use those eggs with sperm from a partner, but it gives a much much higher chance of success as a backup option. You could also have them genetically tested so you have a better idea of your chances while you're still young enough to freeze more eggs if the embryos don't look good.
Maybe freezing a combination of eggs and embryos if you have enough eggs, again that's what I wish I'd done.
Although I have zero regrets now I have my gorgeous girl! X
I won't have enough eggs to do that sadly, as I want to give myself the best chance to have a baby with a potential future partner. I'd only freeze embryo w donor sperm if I had over 30 eggs e.g. some spares, as I am pretty certain that going solo is not for me so unlikely I would use. Congrats on your baby girl xx
Hi, I just wanted to give you my personal statistics in case that helps. But it's not quite the same because I've only frozen embryos and not eggs, but for what it's worth:
I've had seven egg collection cycles at age 40- 41. In total, 69 eggs collected (3 to 13 eggs per cycle), and 10 resulting embryos were good enough to freeze or transfer. One embryo didn't survive the thawing process. Two resulted in pregnancy but miscarried early. I have one left to transfer.
So, it really depends on the individual and their eggs, but the more the better as you get older. In your shoes I'd do as many collection as you can afford, since you are at an advantage age-wise. Don't worry about taking a break between cycles to let your body recover.
In the film What's Love Got to Do With It, there's a scene where Lily James' character goes to a fertility clinic about egg freezing, and they give a statistic that 1% of frozen eggs result in a live birth. I have no idea if that is accurate or for dramatic effect.
Embryos have a much higher success rate, so fingers crossed it works for you soon. That's an incredible number of eggs you got!
1% doesn't seem right, and I think that's horrible they put that in a movie!
Is there not an increased risk of ovarian cancer doing a lot of cycles? From what I read there is some evidence, I don't know if I want to do many more. Food for thought x
I am aware of the increased risk from taking estrogen (per the medication insert), but the manufacturer says the risk is in relation to long-term use, ie women taking it for HRT in menopause. Cancer Research UK says there is no increased risk from doing IVF. Hopefully your clinic can help so you can make an informed decision that is right for you. The internet can be a minefield.
I don't know if this helps, but when I was looking at donor eggs, one option was using frozen donor eggs rather than fresh, and I was told if I bought 8 eggs I should get guaranteed 1 blastocyst out of those 8 frozen eggs once they were thawed and fertilised. I used fresh instead and got 50% blastocyst rate. I understand that if you're in a situation where you don't want to make a decision on sperm so fresh isn't viable - but I was a bit surprised by the blastocyst success rates out of frozen eggs. But as I said, I didn't use frozen, that's just what the clinic told me x
Thanks. Yes, I put the stats I discussed with the embryologist on a response to someone else and on average for my age, I need 20 eggs to get 2 viable blastocysts. And then according to their stats, 71% live birth rate for each blastocyst IF I freeze as an embryo with PGT testing. It could be better case or worse case.
So tricky to make decisions now, but I think I will consider a fourth round next year. I need a break financially and physically for now, as I am gearing up to my third later this month.
Hi Eggfreezing36,So at the age of 37 I had 10 eggs collected, out of which 7 were matured and frozened.
When the time came to do the IVF, all 7 were thawed, 5 of which fertilised and made it to day 5.
When it came time to do the transfer, I was told my embryos were developing slowly and was given the option of transferring two embryos, which resulted in my twin boys who are now 19 months old.
I was also give the option to freeze the other 3/5 embryos, however they did not survive past day 5.
I was advised by my consultant that using fresh sperm as opposed to frozen sperm increased the chances of having a successful IVF with frozen eggs, something you may wish to think about if you do decide to wait until you have a partner.
I hope that this helps, I think what you are doing is amazing, egg collection is not easy. I wish you all the best. Xx
Wow, that is much better stats than what I discussed with my clinic! My clinic said that if I have 20 eggs, I will get two healthy blastocysts going on average stats, as 50% don't survive thaw, then only 40% make blasts, and 50% of blasts will be "good". But of course that it could be higher or lower depending in quality. Sounds like your eggs were v good quality.
V interesting the other embroys did not survive, so did you transfer the 2 embroys before day 5? If so, that shows that some clinics policy of waiting till day 5 is wrong as if you had waited maybe they wouldn't have survived?
Mine were IVF+ICSI. I had 24 follicles, 16 collected, 9 mature and only 3 fertilised. Chemical with the first (fresh transfer) and two pregnancies from the frozen. The way I see it, percentages don’t matter, you’re either in the lucky half or you’re not 🤷🏽♀️. All the best.
Thanks! That's great stats. Yes totally, even the embryologist said you cannot 100% know. The more eggs the better though, but you can get lucky or unlucky as you say x
Hi Eggfreezing36. I am 35, currently going through my second egg freezing round at CRGH. Same situation as you, single, fed up of men, but don’t want a child alone. I’m also looking for the same answers as you. I got 8 collected and 5 frozen from my first round, which is more than they were expecting because I have low AMH and low AFC. They told me if I got 10-15 on ice then they’d be reasonably confident I could have a live birth. So I’d need 3 rounds for that. I’m not sure looking at what people are posting here that it’s anything like what I would call “reasonably confident”. If you’d ever be interested in meeting for a coffee to share experiences, let me know. Wishing you the best for the rest of your cycles - I would just do as much as you can so that in future when you look back you can comfortably say you did the best you could at the time. That’s generally how I try to approach it. It’s not an easy process by any means.
Would love to meet! I’m in Spain for a few weeks but will message. I did 3 cycles and have 19 eggs in total. I chatted to the embryologist and they said 20 eggs is 70% chance of a live birth so it’s decent stats but not guaranteed.
I will see if I do a final 4th cycle next summer. At least ur 35, I’m 38 in Jan and uggggh x
You’ve got a great yield so far though - congrats! They told me not to delay because they expected only a few eggs per cycle based on my levels. So it’s not all down to age. I am doing the 3 cycle package and got 5 from cycle 1. Will see how this one goes - collecting at the end of this week. Enjoy Spain
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