What are the success rates of egg freezing?

Study 1

A retrospective study on social egg freezing conducted by the Assisted Conception Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust reviewed 167 women undergoing 184 egg-freezing cycles between January 2016 and March 2022. The findings revealed:

  • Average age at freezing: 37.1 years
  • Mean number of eggs frozen per cycle: 9.5
  • Post-thaw survival rate: 74%
  • Fertilisation rate: 67%
  • Pregnancy rate per embryo transfer: 48%
  • Live birth rate per embryo transfer: 35%

Women who froze 15 or more eggs achieved higher live birth rates. Younger women, particularly those under the age of 38, experienced better outcomes overall, with a live birth rate of 38%, compared to 29% for women aged 38 or older.

Read more:
Kakkar, P., Geary, J., Stockburger, T., Kaffel, A., Kopeika, J., & El-Toukhy, T. (2023). Outcomes of Social Egg Freezing: A Cohort Study and a Comprehensive Literature Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(13), 4182. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134182

Study 2:

The London Women’s Clinic conducted a 15-year study following patients who froze their eggs between 2008 and 2022. The study highlighted the following live birth rates:

  • 26% in women under 35
  • 20% in women aged 35–39
  • 5% in women aged 40 or older

Despite a low utilisation rate of 14%, the clinic recorded 77 live births from 93 pregnancies, demonstrating that egg-freezing success rates are comparable to those of routine IVF. The findings emphasise the importance of both the age at which eggs are frozen and the number of eggs collected as critical predictors of success. This provides individuals with valuable information to make informed fertility decisions.

Read more:
Egg freezing: The consistent results of scientific studies are reliable and give the true indication of treatment success. (n.d.). London Women’s Clinic. https://www.londonwomensclinic.com/ova/articles/egg-freezing-the-consistent-results-of-scientific-studies/

Study 3

Another study analysed data from two UK clinics—the London Women’s Clinic (LWC) and the Bridge Centre—over a 10-year period. The study focused on 129 women who had thawed their eggs, providing the following key insights:

  • Women who froze their eggs for social reasons (i.e., non-medical reasons) were generally older when thawing, with an average age of 42.5, and nearly half used donor sperm.
  • Success rate for conception: 20.9% overall.

The study also revealed notable differences between women who froze their eggs for social versus non-social reasons. Non-social freezers experienced higher success rates, likely due to being younger at the time of both freezing and thawing.

Read more:
Gürtin, Z. B., Morgan, L., O'Rourke, D., Wang, J., & Ahuja, K. (2019). For whom the egg thaws: Insights from an analysis of 10 years of frozen egg thaw data from two UK clinics, 2008–2017. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, 36(6), 1069–1080. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-019-01429-6