Preserving your fertility

Egg freezing is one way of preserving your fertility so you can use them later on for more fertility treatment. You might want to consider freezing your eggs if:

• You have a medical condition or need treatment for a medical condition that will affect your fertility, such as cancer (in this case NHS funding may be available depending on where you live).
• You’re at risk of injury or death (for example, you’re a member of the Armed Forces who is being deployed to a war zone).
• If you’re a female transitioning to a male, you may want to preserve your fertility before you start hormone therapy or have reconstructive surgery. Both treatments can lead to the partial or total loss of your fertility.
• You don’t want to have leftover embryos after IVF treatment for ethical reasons.

Sperm freezing and storage is available at our full-service clinics. There is a cost associated with the initial procedure and screening, and then with ongoing annual storage. For more information, please visit our fertility preservation page.

Yes, this is a service we’re able to provide. Egg and/or embryo freezing and storage is available at our full-service clinics in Cambridge, Norwich and Wickford.

Egg freezing can offer you a way to preserve your eggs if you are facing medical treatment that could compromise your future fertility, or you are not ready to become pregnant just now but wish to bank some of your eggs for future use. A cycle of egg freezing involves the same treatment as for conventional IVF, except the eggs are not fertilised or transferred. The eggs that are mature enough for this process are frozen on the same day as your egg collection.

When fresh embryos are transferred during an IVF cycle, any additional embryos created – but not transferred – are often frozen. However, what we mean here is a specific treatment that involves entering an IVF cycle with the express intention of freezing all the resulting embryos. Fertility patients will now be able to store their frozen embryos, sperm and eggs for up to 55 years following a change in the law (1 July 2022). Previously storage was for just ten years.

The cost of fertility preservation treatment varies. More information can be found on our fees and funding page or via our fee calculator.

Sperm freezing and storage is available at all of our full service clinics. There is a cost associated with the initial procedure and screening, and then with the ongoing annual storage. Find out more about freezing sperm and the process.

Any eggs collected from you at our clinics in Cambridge, Norwich or Wickford, that are suitable for freezing, will be stored at your chosen clinic. The standard storage period allowed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is a maximum of 10 years, although women in certain circumstances may be able to store their eggs for up to 55 years. For example, when the woman is at risk of becoming prematurely infertile through medical treatments such as chemotherapy.

If your eggs are frozen and stored at the clinic, we’ll contact you every year and ask you to confirm your wishes for the next 12 months. If you wish to continue storage with us, there is an annual storage fee to pay.

When the time comes for you to use your stored eggs, they will be thawed and inseminated with sperm. We’ll then transfer the resulting embryos to you, using the same procedure as in a conventional IVF embryo transfer.

Find out more about egg freezing.