The Observer's recent account of the experiences of women going through egg freezing is awful to hear. We need greater transparency from fertility clinics around payment pricing and better support and protection in place for people going through the process. It's part of the reason Fertifa started and a huge part of the reason our clinical team vet our partner clinics so thoroughly.
When we meet with clinics to see if we want to work with them as one of our clinic partners, we look for things like transparency on success rates, patient experience and patient support. And we always ensure there's transparent pricing for each of our patients, from the very start of the process.
As we say to all of our patients at Fertifa, the process of egg freezing differs from person to person. Some people find they go through it without any difficulties whereas some people will find it emotionally and physically exhausting. But what everyone needs is the best support in place, free of aggressive marketing, opaque success rates or vague pricing structures, to ensure their process is clear and smooth as it possibly can be.
Our Clinical Consultant Dr Jane Ding has put together some of the most important questions you should ask at your first egg freezing consultation
Egg freezing is currently the fastest growing form of fertility treatment. It's something our patients at Fertifa ask about a lot. Your fertility clinic should be giving you this information anyway; these questions are the main focus of all of our egg freezing consultations at Fertifa.
We know that it can be confusing, with lots of medical language to get through. Hopefully these questions will make the process a little clearer and easier to navigate:
1. Based on my ovarian reserve test result, what are my chances of having one child from one round of egg freezing? How many cycles of egg freezing will I need to secure a chance of having a baby?
2. What is the total cost of one cycle of egg freezing - including medications, monitoring investigations, the admin fee and storage cost?
3. What are my chances of side effects - including Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), surgical risks, Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) risks and side effects from the medication?
4. What happens on the day, in the lead up before and after I've had the procedure?
5. How long can I store my eggs for?
6. Do I need to take time off work for the appointments and procedure, and if so, how much?
7. What should I ask my workplace for in terms of appointments and time off?
8. What does 'successful' look like?
9. If I return to use the eggs in a few years, what is the cost of the next part?
If you're a patient of Fertifa, you can speak to one of our Patient Advisors who will be there with you through egg freezing every step of the way 💜
.svg)
