Should I freeze my eggs?
A short newsletter on women's health and innovation
Dear friends,
Whenever I talk about my book, The Vagina Business, and innovation focused on women’s health, somebody will inevitably ask: “So, should I freeze my eggs?”
My answer to that question is now published in Wired and you can read it here: What You Need to Know Before You Freeze Your Eggs
It’s an excerpt from the fertility chapter in The Vagina Business.
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It was HUGELY important for me to include a graph (see below)—in the book and in the article—to show you exactly how many eggs you need to freeze depending on your age!
Because this is what I have heard a fertility clinic owner say to people, when I attended an event to do research on egg freezing (quote taken from the book):
One woman in her 30s, who sits in the audience, asks how many eggs she would need to freeze to have a child later on. “I promise I’m not trying to be coy—it’s really hard to answer questions about the success rate,” says the presenter. She says some clients only had one egg retrieval cycle—that might yield a few eggs—and that is fine.
At that point, I’d like to hand the inquirer an evidence-based chart on the number of eggs she needs to freeze. Just a few eggs are a bad idea. But I realize that if I produce a research paper out of my tote bag, in the eyes of the audience, the presenters run a clinic, and I’m just an unknown woman with a bright orange umbrella.
Here’s the graph I want everyone to know about:
This graph (based on Goldman et al., 2017) shows that if you’re 36 years old, for example, you’d have to freeze 25 eggs for a 90% chance of having at least one live birth. (Just to explain: 25 eggs would usually mean multiple rounds of egg retrieval!)
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The uptake of egg freezing has increased exponentially. According to some studies it has gone up by over 800% in a decade. I think it’s a great technology/ option to have.
But in my research, I have found several problems that have to be addressed. Fertility clinics need to be much more transparent on: the overall cost, the risks of the procedure, and the success rates.
And they need to stop using the AMH test to fear-monger women (you’re running out of eggs! Freeze them before it’s too late!). You can find more details on all of this in the feature.
I want women to have the full picture on egg freezing, so that we can all make more informed decisions. Feel free to send the article or the book to friends who are wondering whether to freeze their eggs.
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ALSO:
I am SO happy that the Financial Times has recommended The Vagina Business as a must-read business book, alongside Likeable Badass, which sounds like a fantastic book. As Anna Butterworth pointed out, “The FT isn’t afraid of vaginas, the tide is turning.”
At the Jewish Chronicle, Elisa Bray, who writes so beautifully, has published a profile of how and why I wrote The Vagina Business—I honestly couldn’t have written it any better myself.
Next up, I’m going to speak at AthenaDao Lab’s Pop-Up in San Francisco on Saturday evening! I’m told there will be a party too. If you’re around, join us.
Until next time,
Marina