The most logical time to freeze eggs may differ from when egg quality is best, according to an Australian review of the data. The most balanced and logical time to freeze eggs is between 32–38 years of age, experts say.
"Studies suggest that women who freeze their eggs before age 35 have a better chance of a successful pregnancy than those who freeze their eggs after age 35." This is because the more eggs retrieved and frozen, the better the chance of a successful pregnancy.
Technically, there is no time limit on egg freezing. Most clinics will try to work with the patient. However, some clinics prefer to stop egg freezing at particular ages, especially over 42. There will be too few quality eggs at this point.
Egg freezing typically works best for those in their 20s to early 30s, and is not usually recommended for women over 38 years.
By 40, less than half of a woman's eggs are considered normal. Egg quality is largely determined by the ovarian environment that the eggs spend their final 90 days of development in; women in their 40s generally have a poor ovarian environment for producing high-quality eggs.
So on average, when we look at large groups of women, of women who want to conceive at age 40, about half will get pregnant naturally. But that decreases quickly to perhaps 20% to 25% by age 42 to 43. And by age 45, it's quite rare to become pregnant naturally. Dr.
The rate of chromosomal abnormalities in eggs (and therefore also in embryos) increases significantly with advancing female age. At age 30 about 30% of eggs are chromosomally abnormal. By age 40 about 60% are abnormal and by 44 years old 90% are abnormal.
The data in the graph above shows that:
Women under 38 in our IVF program have acceptable live birth rates even with only 3 – 6 eggs, do better with more than 6 eggs, and do best with more than 10 eggs. Women 38-40 and 41-42 years old have low live birth rates with low egg numbers.
Cost of egg freezing
At IVF Australia, an Elective Egg Freezing Cycle costs $6,000. This includes cycle management, surgeon's fee, initial freeze and first six months' storage (up to 10 eggs retrieved).
Across all ages, women who thawed more than 20 mature eggs had a 58 percent live birth rate, which was profound and unexpected as this group included people past their reproductive prime. In fact, 14 patients who froze eggs at the age of 41 to 43 years successfully had children from their frozen eggs.
ACOG states that a female's fertility gradually and significantly drops around age 32. They will have around 120,000 eggs, with a 20% chance of conceiving per cycle. ACOG further states that a female will experience a rapid decline by age 37, when egg count drops to around 25,000.
At the age of 37, the average woman has around 25,000 eggs left, and by the time she reaches 51, this will have fallen to 1,000. “Just before menopause, your egg supply reaches below 1,000, and ovulations space out before they stop altogether, eventually,” says Dr. Sekhon.
Working with a retrospective cohort of 373 women, this new study found that no livebirths were achieved in women who underwent egg freezing after 40 years old. In comparison, 82% of all livebirths were achieved in women who had frozen their eggs between 36 and 39.
Deciding how many eggs to freeze
Women under 35 should freeze 20 mature eggs for an 85% chance of having at least one child. Women 38 to 40 should freeze 30 mature eggs for a 75% chance of having at least one child. Women 40 to 42 should freeze 30 mature eggs for a 50% chance of having at least one child.
Emerging research shows that taking supplemental CoQ10 as a form of “mitochondrial energy nutrition” for the egg, can help improve egg quality and potentially lead to a better chance of achieving a healthy pregnancy. CoQ10 is fat-soluble nutrient.
There is no actual age limit or cutoff for freezing your eggs, although the potential of those eggs turning into a live birth reduces in the 40s. According to research, women who are under age 36 when freezing their eggs have a 95% survival rate for their eggs once they are thawed.
If you're freezing your eggs for elective purposes – it's not covered by Medicare. Egg freezing isn't covered by private health insurance, but if your policy covers assisted reproductive services it might cover some costs like hospital fees, doctor or anaesthetist fees and other associated costs.
Can I be paid to donate my eggs to the clinic? In Australia, donating eggs is an altruistic act and it is illegal to pay a donor to donate. However, you can be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred during the process of donating. Melbourne IVF will reimburse reasonable expenses incurred with a proof of receipt.
Women lose 90 per cent of the eggs in their ovaries before the age of 30, new research has shown. The mathematical model shows that the average woman has only 12 per cent of her eggs left by the age of 30 and only three per cent by the age of 40.
Your age affects the health of your eggs. Women reach the peak of their fertility at around age 24. After this age, egg quality slowly deteriorates until around age 37, and then deteriorates more rapidly until about age 42. After roughly age 42, fertility for most women basically falls off a cliff.
Pregnancy after age 45 years is infrequent and the mother and baby should be considered as a high risk. There is a greater incidence of spontaneous abortion, gestational trophoblastic disease and chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus.
It is true that fertility does decline with age, but many women conceive naturally aged over 40 and go on to have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.