Freezing eggs is potentially a way to expand the family in the future. Eggs can be kept viable so that they could still be used, such as in an arrangement with a gestational carrier. In this situation, a woman could still become a mother and would be biologically related to the child, even if she did not carry that child herself and may have been past the typical childbearing age.
That said, age is a crucial factor to consider at this time. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine: “Age is the most important factor in successful egg freezing.” So what age is best if you are interested in freezing your eggs, and how quickly do you need to act?
The decline in egg supply
According to infertility specialists at Johns Hopkins, one critical age to consider is turning 37. At this point, a woman’s egg supply starts to drop rapidly. She is getting closer to menopause, which is when egg production and release stop. That is generally from 45 to 55 years old. But by age 43, these specialists note that about 90 percent of someone’s eggs will not have the potential for pregnancy because they will be abnormal in nature.
In other words, it is typically best to freeze eggs while someone is in their 20s or their 30s. Even by their mid-30s, egg production is dropping, although they may not yet have reached the rapid decline that comes between 37 and 43. By the time someone turns 43, freezing eggs may not be a viable solution because those eggs would not be able to lead to pregnancy anyway. So people often take this step between 25 and 35 years old.
If you are interested in freezing eggs or other types of alternative reproductive technology, be sure you are well aware of all of your legal rights and the steps you will need to take as you work through this process.