Elective egg freezers’ decisions and intentions regarding use of frozen eggs

To summarize reasons why individuals opted to freeze eggs and their intentions regarding eventual use of their frozen eggs Survey of individuals who underwent ovarian stimulation to freeze eggs for their own potential later use Sixty-five elective egg freezers completed an online survey. Nearly half of survey respondents (49.2%) reported freezing all their retrieved eggs for themselves as planned, 26% shared their eggs with another person either previously known (6.2%) or unknown (20%) to them, 9.2% were planning to share but did not produce enough so either kept them all (7.8%) or donated them all to an intended parent (1.5%), and 6 (9.2%) froze their own eggs after donating eggs to others in the past. Most (72%) froze their eggs within the past year, 14% froze eggs 1-3 years ago, and 12.5% froze eggs 4-6 years ago. Most respondents (53%) reported that the primary reason for freezing eggs was concern about their future fertility and not being ready to pursue parenthood, and 25% reported having health concerns that could affect future fertility. The majority (42%) indicated they would use their frozen eggs to become a single parent if they do not find a partner, 39% indicated they want to wait until they find a partner, and 30% had a partner but were not ready to become a parent. Career and financial security were also important, with 33% delaying parenthood to focus on career, and 33% wanting to be financially secure before having a child. Awareness of egg freezing was also a factor, with 31% deciding to freeze because they learned about it from their friends and 14% taking advantage of employment benefits. Participants also learned about egg freezing through egg donation, with 27% deciding to freeze eggs for themselves after donating and 20% who donated in “freeze and share” cycles. Of the 11 (17%) participants who reported having returned to use their frozen eggs, seven (11% of all surveyed) conceived children using their frozen eggs and either donor sperm (6) or partner sperm (1). Four used all their frozen eggs without success, with 2 planning on collecting additional eggs. Of the 53 who have not yet used their frozen eggs, 77% report not yet being ready, 9% conceived naturally, and 2% each are about to undergo IVF, would like to but cannot afford IVF, have not yet attempted pregnancy due to other medical issues, or reported being ready now but are single and do not want to parent alone. Of those who had not yet used their frozen eggs 13% said they plan to very soon, while 36% said that they did not expect to be ready to use their eggs in the near future. Thirty-nine percent said they would consider donating remaining eggs to other patients and most (53%) would consider donating them to research after completing their own family. While most survey respondents intended to use their frozen eggs for their own future fertility treatment, a surprising number underwent shared cycles.