Many -especially women - may find that increasing age and declining fertility combined with not being ready, or challenges with finding a partner, can be extremely stressful. What if, pregnancy is not reached?
Therefore, freezing the woman's eggs may be an option that may well decreases the pressure for many. In the public - and thus free - system, however, it is not legal todo what is called social freezing. That is, freezing the woman's eggs to later use them when you have a desire to get pregnant unless there are medical reasons to do so. Today it is only free and an option if you:
1: Is in danger of losing fertility due to illness or treatment of illness- for example, chemotherapy
2: If you have been in fertility treatment in connection with having your first child. Here there may have been fertilized eggs, called blastocysts, in excess, which can be frozen. These eggs may be used to have the second child, free of cost, int he public system. About 50% have had eggs in surplus that can be frozen. These eggs may be used until the woman turns 46 years old. (Read more about what free fertility help you can get if you, or you and your partner, need help getting pregnant here. Link)
What to do?
If you have a desire to have frozen eggs, even if you do not belong to one of the two above groups, there is the possibility of "social freezing" at private fertility clinics, where you pay for the treatment. Prices for "social freezing" start from approximately DKK 22.000 for one cycle treatment. In addition, there will also be expenses for blood tests, medication and freeze storage. To find exact prices, we recommend that you look at the price listed on private fertility clinics. If you are a member of Sygesikringen Denmark, they provide a full or partial subsidy for the medicine.
How does it take place?
The process at a private fertility clinic will start with an initial interview, where you will also have an ultrasound scan of your uterus and ovaries. Next, the doctor will assess whether it will make sense for you with social freezing.
After this, the first step will be to contact the clinic when you get your period, after which the process is started with ultrasound a few days after the start of menstruation. You will also start hormone stimulation and get a treatment to prevent you from ovulating. After a week, you will again come to the ultrasound scan, where the number of follicle sand their size will be analyzed. At this time, you will often agree when you should come back for the egg retrieval and when you should take an ovulation syringe. For egg retrieval, there will be a doctor and nurse present, and you will be able to follow the procedure on an ultrasound screen. Later that day, eggs of good quality will be frozen in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees. In Denmark, it is legal to have the eggs frozen for up to 5 years. After the 5-year period unused eggs will be discarded.
Rules and chances of pregnancy
Most private fertility clinics in Denmark do not recommend that women over the age of 40 use social freezing, as the eggs here will statistically often be of poor quality. In private clinics, the eggs may freeze for up to 5 years, and when the woman turns 46, they must be destroyed. The chances of pregnancy are higher the younger the woman is. If the woman is under 37 when the eggs are retrieved, it is said that there is a chance of 8-10% per egg. Or 70% if 10 eggs are taken out.
We want to make our articles as credible and authentic as possible and therefore do not collaborate with any private fertility clinics. We recommend that you go to Google, search for "social freezing" (which is also the Danish term)and read about the treatments and prices on the private clinics' websites.
Many times, there can be money to be saved by getting eggs frozen abroad. You can read more about this option here: Freezing of the woman's eggs. Opportunities abroad – Gravidtid
If you want to check if you are about to reach menopause, you can buy our FSH Menopause test here: Femometer FSH Klimakterietest – Gravidtid If you want to check your ovulation, you can buy our ovulation tests here: Ægløsningstests – Gravidtid
Source: Sundhed.dk, Hvidovre Hospital, Retsinformation.dk, Aleris Hamlet, Copenhagen Fertility Center and Fertilitetsklinikken Trianglen.