Egg freezing

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Results

By Mayo Clinic staff

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Illustration of ICSI Illustration of ICSI

When you choose to use your frozen eggs, they'll be thawed, fertilized with sperm in a lab, and implanted in your or a gestational carrier's uterus.

Your health care team might recommend using a fertilization technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In ICSI, a single healthy sperm is injected directly into each mature egg.

About 75 to 80 percent of eggs survive freezing and thawing, and a similar amount will be successfully fertilized. The chances of becoming pregnant after implantation are roughly 40 to 50 percent, depending on your age at the time of egg freezing. The older you are at the time of egg freezing, the lower the likelihood that you'll have a live birth in the future.

Keep in mind that pregnancy rates might be lower when frozen eggs are used, compared with fresh or frozen embryos.

What you can expect
References
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  16. The Practice Committees of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Mature oocyte cryopreservation: A guideline. Fertility and Sterility. 2012. In press. Accessed Nov. 27, 2012.
  17. Fauser B, et al. Overview of ovulation induction. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 15, 2012.
  18. Anesthesia experience. American Society of Anesthesiologists. http://www.lifelinetomodernmedicine.com/FAQs/anesthesia%20experience.aspx. Accessed Oct. 15, 2012.
  19. The Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Fertility and Sterility. 2008;90:188.
  20. Hughes E, et al. Clomiphene citrate for unexplained subfertility in women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/index.html. Accessed Oct. 15, 2012.
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  22. Jensen JR (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 17, 2012.
MY02174 Jan. 17, 2013

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