Egg freezing is on the rise in Ireland – but a leading fertility doctor has cautioned women it is not a guarantee of a baby.
The Merrion Fertility Clinic in Dublin has performed 138 egg-freezing procedures to date this year.
Friends star Jennifer Aniston recently revealed her regret over not freezing her eggs opening up about her private struggles to have a baby.
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A-listers who have made the decision to freeze their eggs include Kim Kardashian, Chrissy Tiegen and Paris Hilton.
The Merrion clinic’s director Dr David Crosby said: “Since 2016, the demand has increased year on year and doubled between 2020 and 2021.
“Egg freezing or oocyte vitrification has become much more popular as it has become more accessible over the past five years.
“Worldwide, there has been an exponential increase in the number of women availing of egg freezing, but there has not been the same exponential increase in the number of women coming back to thaw and use them.”
The Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist said: “We have had some live births from embryos created with eggs frozen at our clinic since 2016. Our first thaw was in 2018 and we have performed less than a dozen thaws to date.”
Experts say a woman’s egg production slows down with age and the quality of the eggs also decreases.
Some people collect eggs at a younger age and freeze them for later use, rather than wait and potentially miss the opportunity to collect healthy eggs.
A study published this summer found that the overall chance of a live birth from frozen eggs was 39% among women attending a New York fertility clinic. The rate increased to over 50% among women who were younger than 38 when they froze their eggs. It increased to 70% if women younger than 38 also thawed 20 or more eggs.
The clinical director of the Merrion Fertility Clinic said it “is an elective procedure not without risk and not without cost”.
Dr. Crosby said egg freezing costs approximately €3,000 but there may be additional hidden costs such as time off work.
He said the clinic also provides fertility preservation for children, adolescents, and young adults who go through cancer and survivors free of cost in a partnership between the Irish Cancer Society and Merrion Fertility Clinic.
He added: “We advise that age is the single most important determinant of reproductive outcome and that there are no guarantees of success.
“The mean age of all patients who have attended is 34.9 years. Our age range for adult cryopreservation is 18 to 40 years.
“We advise that if they are to be thawed and used in the future, which to date occurs in 8% to 12% of cases, a specialised form of IVF called Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection would be required.”
It is thought the Assisted Human Reproduction Authority, which is set to come into being under new legislation currently before the Oireachtas, will monitor the outcomes of frozen eggs and embryos.
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