I froze my eggs in Asia
Written and accurate as of June 2018.
Hi everyone,
I’m in my early 30s and froze my eggs in 2017. I’ve been sharing my experiences and contact details of my doctors to many people and thought it would be easier (for me!) to consolidate everything here and send it to friends.
I’m a Singaporean where it’s illegal for single women to freeze their eggs (except for medical reasons like upcoming chemotherapy). So my eggs are now frozen in some high-tech refrigerator in Bangkok, Thailand.
As it’ll be explained below, the egg freezing process is a two-step process, so I did the first part in Singapore, after which I flew to Bangkok to have my eggs retrieved and frozen.
This piece is for those who want to understand the egg freezing process. This is not medical advice; I’m only sharing my experience after doing my own research and having gone through the process once. This piece doesn’t contain much medical terminology. Please do contact a fertility doctor if you want to take this research one step further.
Summary
For anyone who wants kids, In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) has been an option globally for quite some time. IVF is a process whereby the eggs of a woman are stimulated, such that a large number of them are retrieved. A woman’s natural biology only produces one egg a month, so this stimulation process is crucial. After retrieval, the eggs are inseminated with sperm to be fertilized. After which, the embryos (fertilised eggs) are implanted into the womb for incubation till birth.
The egg freezing process only differs in that instead of being retrieved and inseminated with sperm, they are frozen. And kept frozen till they’re retrieved, thawed, and then inseminated with sperm.
Women freeze their eggs for many reasons. Biologically, the quality of eggs decreases as a woman gets older and the IVF and egg freezing procedures also get more difficult.
There are many countries where it is illegal to have one’s eggs frozen and retrieved for fertilization. Check the exact legal frameworks where you are, but they may also change. For example, it is illegal for unmarried women to freeze their eggs in Singapore, and in Thailand it was legal for women to freeze, retrieve, and fertilize their eggs. But the laws were changed such that while women can still freeze their eggs there (which I did), to actually retrieve and use my own eggs, I have to produce a marriage certificate.
Why would a woman want to freeze her eggs?
There are many reasons why a woman might think about freezing her eggs. Here is a non-exhaustive list:
- Knowing that she is more genetically predisposed to having cancer and so wants to preserve healthy eggs before any onset of cancer, so that biological children would still be a possibility.
- Donate them to couples who may not be able to conceive.
- Wants to have a hysterectomy (removing all or part of the uterus) or tubal ligation (closing off the fallopian tubes, preventing eggs from arriving at the uterus) for medical reasons or as a form of permanent birth control, but wants to leave open the possibility of still having biological children. If the uterus is removed, then that woman can’t gestate the embryo. In tubal ligation, the uterus is still intact so may still carry an embryo. I’m not a doctor, so please do your own research and ask your doctor.
- Not knowing if she wants to have children but leaving that choice open.
- Haven’t met the right partner(s).
- Delaying motherhood because of other various life circumstances.
The Process
Overview of the two-step process
It’s a two-step process and takes about three weeks in total. You have heard of IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization); the first step of egg freezing is exactly the same as the first step of IVF. It takes about two weeks and consists of daily self-injections of various amounts of hormones to stimulate egg follicle production.
The second step of IVF consists of egg retrieval and then insemination with sperm. For egg freezing, this is different. The second step of egg freezing consists of egg retrieval then freezing. When you want to use your eggs, your eggs are thawed and then inseminated with sperm.
Before it begins
Before everything, there will be a blood test, general health examination, and ultrasound to ensure that your body is ready for the procedure.
Throughout the first step
After the first injection, you’ll have to go back to your doctor every two or three days for another blood test and ultrasound. This is to check the growth of the egg follicles and to ensure your body has the optimal hormonal environment for the eggs.
The dosage and types of hormone injections given will be adjusted. Make sure to follow the exact dosage exactly. Generally, you’ll have to do your daily injections within the same half hour period every 24 hours.
The self-injections you do are on your womb / tummy area. They’re really not that difficult after a while. For my very first self-injection, I spent 20 minutes on it. I screwed up and ended up with a bent needle at first. So had to use a new one. After a few injections, I got more proficient and then it took 30 seconds or so for each.
They’re basically not painful. It stings just a small tad for a less than a second.
Each day, I had three kinds of injections that I had to do. You’ll have to do the injections all roughly every 24 hours (i.e. roughly at the same time daily) so if you’ve got work or social commitments, best to do it early in the morning or late at night.
Towards the end of the first step
The first step takes roughly two weeks. The aim is to have the eggs grow to around 17 millimeter in diameter. No, there’s no typo there. Yes, they’re large.
If you have to travel to another doctor (or another city/country) for the second step of retrieval and freezing process, you can only have a date only towards the end of the first step. Yes, it’s safe to travel with all those gigantic eggs inside of you. You’ll need a medical certificate to bring on board any syringes. I didn’t have any problems at the airport.
Towards the end of the two weeks, your doctor will ascertain that your body and the eggs are approaching the right size. For me, my doctor had told me on a Tuesday or Wednesday that my eggs would be ready for retrieval on Sunday. And you can’t just arrive on the day of the retrieval since there’s some prep work before. So I only flew on Friday afternoon.
The days are fairly precise. If you’re flying to another city to do the final retrieval, you can only book transportation after your doctor has given you an indication of the date.
If you can stay in whichever city for the entire process, that would make things easier of course.
Second step
There’s a final injection that you’ll have to take at a precise time (+/- 5 minutes) to prepare your body for the procedure. So I did this injection on Friday night after I arrived at my hotel room in Bangkok.
On Saturday morning, I went to see Dr Weena in the clinic to also do final checks and get comfortable with her. I was scheduled to have my final procedure on Sunday morning at 10am.
By this time, I basically didn’t want to move much, my tummy was already slightly bulging since I had 18 eggs that were on average 1 cm in my body! It was more comfortable to sleep on my back. So I spent the rest of my Saturday just chilling in my hotel room, getting a much deserved break by watching movies and reading.
I also tried to eat just egg whites the entire day. (Not necessary…) and also, sports drinks (with all the electrolytes was good too), so I drank a lot of that and water. (See point on egg whites later under Success Rates).
Afterwards, from 10pm (12 hours before my procedure), I couldn’t take anything, no food, no water. Nothing. Remember, not even water. But hey, your doctor will tell you. So try to sleep away lots of those 12 hours.
The final, final step
I was wheeled into the operation theatre and given general anaesthesia. The next thing I knew, I jolted awake and panicked — I thought I had dozed off for like two seconds and wanted to ask my doctor my questions. (You know, one of those times when you were in school and nodded off when you weren’t supposed to? Yes, I thought it was one of those times.) But actually, I had been asleep for an hour or so. During which, my doctor had taken about 30 minutes for the entire egg freezing process. And everything had long been done and over.
It was that easy — wear some hospital gown and sleep through it.
Post-procedure
I was lucky as one of my best friends happened to be in town and picked me up, took me to lunch, and tucked me into bed to rest. As I was still drowsy from the anaesthesia. So you’ll need to plan to have a full day of rest after the procedure.
The next day I felt totally normal already, except that my ovaries were still enlarged (but empty), and still could be twisted. (Please see Risks below.) So I had to refrain from doing any exercise / vigorous activities for another week after.
Even before the final retrieval, I was given anti-lactation pills — which I started taking after I did the final injection on Friday night. I had to continue to take these pills for about a week after.
After returning to Singapore and a week later, I had a final check-up with my doctor to see how well I recovered and just to see how I was doing. Apparently I recovered fast! My ovaries didn’t take that long to decrease in size and all was normal.
After this final check-up, everything was over.
Success Rates
I personally had 18 eggs retrieved. Of which, only 12 were mature enough to be frozen. And the 6 were discarded. This ⅓ failure rate is normal.
The number of eggs that mature, can be retrieved and frozen really depends on how young you are. (Fact of life.) I have friends who were in their late 30s and early 40s who have also gone through the egg freezing process but a few only had less than 2 eggs that were mature enough to be frozen.
Generally, one requires about 15 mature frozen eggs to result in one healthy baby. So technically I’m three short of this ‘‘general statistic’’ but I’m good for now as it’s just insurance. Maybe I’ll try freezing again in my late 30s.
To increase your success rate, you’ll have to be healthy and fit. So eat well and exercise.
During the entire egg stimulation process, eat lots of egg white. It’s not just any kind of protein, but specifically egg white, as it contains albumins, which forms part of the egg white and is thus crucial to growing your eggs.
I actually only found out about this when I was about to embark on the second step — which was almost too late.
The Risks
One of the main risks during the process is that of hyperstimulated ovaries. This is when the ovaries get too large, there’s risk of cysts, nausea, vomiting. I had it but it didn’t affect me that much. I had to make sure to avoid vigorous activities in case I twisted my ovaries. But I think that’s something all women undergoing the procedure had to be aware of. I stopped doing sports and dancing during the entire procedure.
Cost
The entire cost was about $15,000, Singapore dollars. I did some basic research and it seems to cost about the same in the US and UK, but just denominated in USD and British pounds respectively. I’ve also heard that Taiwan might be a slightly expensive but still a good option.
My Doctors
Singapore
I went to Dr Yeong Cheng Toh (male) at Tow Yung Clinic. A friend had done IVF with him before and had recommended him to me.
Doctor’s name: Dr Yeong Cheng Toh
Website: http://towyungclinic.com.sg
Address:
The Tow Yung Clinic
19 Tanglin Rd #05–01
Tanglin Shopping Centre
Singapore 247909
Tel: +65 67374433
Fax: +65 67330307
Email: admin@towyungclinic.com.sg
Dr Yeong was great. He was very patient, answered all my questions, and allayed any concerns I had. I felt very taken care of throughout my journey. He would do all the necessary emails with Dr Weena in Bangkok (see below) like sending through my medical reports and coordinating the final procedure. (He also gave me permission to put his name here.)
Thailand
Dr Yeong recommended to me my doctor and clinic in Bangkok, Thailand. They have no financial relationship.
I went to Dr Weena (female) at Superior A.R.T. — Centre for Assisted Reproduction Technology and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.
Doctor’s name: Dr Weena
Website: http://www.thaisuperiorart.com
Address: 1126/2 Vanit Building II, Lobby Floor, New Petchburi Road, Makkasan, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Dr Weena was great too. Very professional and efficient, but also patient to answer any question I had. The clinic was very clean and efficient too. It was very clear where I had to go and what I had to do such that pre-procedure and post-procedure were all very smooth.
You should contact the clinic directly. They speak great English.
FAQ
- How was the entire experience?
Exhilarating. Probably like giving birth (but how would I know?) and birthing almost 20 future kids at the same time. - How safe is the process?
Very safe. Many women globally have had their eggs frozen. The procedure is painless as you are on general anaesthetic. So you sleep through the entire procedure. - Do you regret freezing your eggs?
Not at all. It gave me peace of mind to know that I can still have biological kids. - Why are biological kids so important to you?
I don’t know. Pride? Arrogance? Natural instinct to want to propagate my genes? But really, I just love babies. I swear babies turn from super duper cute to not-cute when they’re maybe 5 years old. (=P, half kidding.) - Why won’t you adopt when you are actually ready / find a partner then?
Adoption and having one’s own biological children is not mutually exclusive. I would love to adopt actually. There are many kids out there who don’t have homes. And I would love to be able to provide a home for one or two of these kids too. - Why might you want to freeze your eggs again?
For insurance. In the ideal case, my eggs are kept frozen in various facilities that are uncorrelated enough. In the unlikely case of a terrible disaster befalling the hospital where my eggs are kept frozen currently, at least I’ll have my eggs in another facility that could be a few miles away or a whole ocean away in another country. Even if you freeze your eggs now in a country where it is legal for single women to freeze, retrieve, and fertilized, who knows, the law might change at some point. - Any other questions?
Please contact your doctor. I’m really not qualified to answer!
Written and accurate as of June 2018.
