How many eggs do I need (to freeze) for a baby?

Unfortunately, there’s no perfect answer to this question, and there aren’t a ton of data available yet on egg freezing, as it’s a relatively new technique, and many freezers haven’t used their eggs yet. A few studies suggest an average 5-10% chance that an egg will result in a live birth with a range of individual differences. These percentages translate into needing to freeze at least 15 eggs to be relatively sure that they’d result in one baby. The chances seem to increase the younger the eggs are.

There are four main factors that influence the likelihood that your frozen eggs will result in a baby: 1) The quality of your eggs, 2) the quality of the sperm you’re using, 3) the capabilities of your lab, and 4) your health and level of fertility when you’re actually trying to get pregnant. The quality of eggs and sperm tends to be inversely correlated with age. The capabilities of your doctor and lab also play a role, as the lab performs critical steps from freezing to eventually fertilizing eggs and implanting embryos during the IVF process. Finally, once you’re actually hoping to use your eggs, your age and physical health will also matter for a successful implantation and pregnancy.

Taking into account all of these factors, we recommend you have a conversation with your Ovally doctor to decide how many cycles of egg freezing might make sense for you. This will also depend on the number of children you’re hoping to have.

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