If you’re considering either freezing eggs or embryos, you want to be sure you’re choosing the right option to give yourself the best chance possible of having a healthy baby when the time comes. Fertility treatments also take a significant financial, physical, and emotional investment, so you want to make the best decision for your family and future. 

It’s best to learn as much as you can before making such an important decision, and we’ve compiled a list of considerations that will help you decide whether freezing eggs vs. embryos is right for you. 

Freezing Eggs vs. Embryos: What the Process Is Like

Whether you choose to freeze eggs or embryos, the initial process starts out the same as long as you are using your own eggs. You’ll begin by having a thorough fertility assessment, during which Dr. Macer will check your ovarian reserve (egg supply) and overall reproductive health. 

Assuming everything looks good after your assessment, you’ll begin taking daily medication to stimulate your body to produce multiple mature eggs (typically only one egg matures each month). Once you have enough mature eggs, you’ll get a “trigger shot” (hormonal injection) that causes your body to release the eggs.

Next, you’ll come into Halo Fertility for an outpatient procedure during which Dr. Macer removes the mature eggs using a needle through your vagina and into your ovaries. The eggs will then be quickly frozen to preserve them.

Not all eggs will be viable. About 20% will be immature and unable to be fertilized, and some are likely to be genetically abnormal, which is also the case for eggs released naturally. Even though the percentage of genetically abnormal eggs increases as you age, it’s important to remember that every healthy, mature egg gives you a chance at a successful pregnancy in the future. 

Additional Steps for Embryo Freezing

Embryo freezing also begins with egg retrieval, but instead of being immediately frozen, the eggs are combined with your partner’s sperm or donor sperm. The fertilized eggs are allowed to grow into embryos over a five day period. If you choose, genetic testing will be done to check the health of your embryos before they’re frozen.

Cost of Freezing Eggs vs. Embryos

One of the major considerations when deciding between freezing eggs vs. embryos is the cost. Costs may vary depending on your unique situation but, in general, freezing eggs is cheaper upfront because you’re not going through the additional steps of fertilization, embryo development, and genetic testing right away. Ultimately, the costs can be very similar, but freezing eggs could be a good option if you want time to save for IVF. 

Success Rates of Freezing Eggs vs. Embryos

Generally speaking, the overall success rate of freezing eggs vs. embryos is about the same, providing about the same chance of live birth in the future. That said, your particular odds of success may depend on factors like the age you choose to freeze your eggs or embryos, any genetic issues and your health at the time of embryo transfer. 

Other Factors to Consider

In addition to the physical process, cost, and success rates of freezing eggs vs. embryos, there are other factors to consider which may be important to you and/or your partner. 

Ethical Considerations

Some people have religious or ethical concerns about freezing embryos that often stems from the fact that more embryos are created than a couple plans to use. 

At the beginning of the process, it’s impossible to know how many embryos you’ll need. Not all embryo transfers are successful, and you may need to repeat the process more than once, which is why having multiple embryos available makes sense. 

Once you decide your family is complete, something must be done with the remaining embryos. If you don’t plan to continue storing your embryos, you’ll need to either donate them or remove them from storage and allow them to expire. It’s very important that you and your partner are on the same page and have a plan in place for any unused embryos. 

Relationships

Some people choose to freeze eggs because they want the ability and autonomy to have children when they’re ready. Similarly, freezing embryos with donor sperm allows you to have a child independent of your relationship status. The same is not true if you freeze embryos with your partner. 

Once you create embryos with a partner, the embryos belong to both of you, which means both partners must consent to their use. If you break up, get a divorce, or one of you simply changes your mind about having a child, the other will not be able to use the embryos. 

Confidence in Viability

Although both egg and embryo freezing have similar overall rates of live births, when it comes to your specific circumstances, you may have greater confidence in the viability of embryos which, when genetically tested, provide more information about abnormalities compared to testing eggs alone.

Still, egg freezing is still largely successful, and the younger you are when you freeze your eggs, the more likely they are to be genetically healthy. 

The Halo Fertility Team Can Help You Decide

Choosing between freezing eggs vs. embryos is a big decision, and we encourage you to discuss both processes, along with any concerns, with Dr. Macer and the Halo Fertility team. We’re happy to help you make an informed decision about which is right for you. Schedule a consult today.