I’ve been hearing about women freezing their eggs for years now, but it never occurred to me that it’d be something I’d pursue. This changed a few months ago where after discussing with a few older friends, I decided to open myself up to the idea. I found out my employer covered the procedure and the storage of the eggs, so I knew that I couldn’t pass on this blessing.
August 2025, I walked into a local fertility clinic to discuss the process and what it would look like for me. I became enthralled by the scientific nature of it all, the moderness of the process, the thought of being able to take my time to find a suitable life partner. I was also met with the realities of thaw rates and embryo viablity and storage fees. Egg freezing is not an insurance policy, more like hopeful backup plan that’s dependent on so many factors like egg quality (largely determined by age) and thawing technology. Given all of this, I was still convinced that this was a smart thing for me to do. I’ve always loved science and innovation, so I saw this as a cool way to become my own lab rat essentially.
Two weeks ago I started my injections, also known as “stims”. I started with two injections, one in the morning and one at night before moving to one in the morning and three at night. While this is happening, I’m going to my fertility clinic every other day and then every day during week 2 for bloodwork and ultrasounds. I was exhausted. Then I was instructed to take my two trigger shots that trigger ovulation 36 hours before my egg retrieval. The retrieval itself was a breeze, I was knocked out by the anesthesia and woke up to my nurses feeing me scooby snacks and pretzels. They told me the number of eggs retrieved, which I was very pleased with. I received a call from the nurse the next morning to let me know how many of those eggs were mature enough to be frozen. I was also happy with that result.
Now I sit here with my heating pad on, downing my third liquid IV of the day to boost my recovery. I thought now would be a good time to draft this and share some things I learned during the process. I feel an almost moral duty to share because I learned so much from women who were brave enough to share their journeys openly.
The fertility industry has helped so many families and individuals build the lives that they want on their own terms, but never forget that this is still a for-profit industry. I’m blessed to live in an area with many options, so researched doctors, costs, thaw rates (90% and up!), number of live births and many other factors. I also researched egg freezing as a viable way to preserve fertility, side effects from the medications and the procedure, how the procedure is done, how the freezing, storing and thawing technologies work and my legal rights as it pertains to my eggs.
Make sure you talk to your doctor about the number of eggs you may need per child you want. This egg freezing counseling tool is a great place to start. Your doctor should be honest with you and give you a realistic picture of what your outcomes may be depending on how many mature eggs are retrieved and frozen.
Music and candles were my best friend. I woke up early in the morning to do my first shot before my doctor’s appointment and immediately blasted Cleo Sol, Norah Jones and Leanne Lahavas. The candles were for dramatic effect. It made what was a nerve wracking experience incredibly cinematic and dare I say, even enjoyable? Plunging needles into your stomach for 10 days straight isn’t exactly the most exciting thing, but the comfort and warmth from the music and the candles helped me feel less alone.
If you’re like me and you’re doing this on your own, involve your community as much as you need to. I did my shots at a friend’s house one night and my last couple days, I had friends in town from back home who laughed with me as a I sloppily mixed chemicals in my kitchen and put on my Disney princess bandaids afterwards. Almost everyday, someone was texting or calling to check in on me. My family members kept me in their prayers and offered their full support along the way. The hormones can make you feel a little emotional, so having people alongside you in this journey can ease the topsy turviness.
Being able to freeze your eggs or undergo any type of fertility treatment is a privilege. For most people, these procedures are wildly beyond what they can afford, so even though it’s hard and taxing, take a moment to express gratitude for the opportunity you have to do something many people only dream of. Being able to freeze my eggs for social reasons and have it covered by insurance is a blessing from God. I never could have been able to pay for this out of pocket. The staff at my clinic were kind and compassionate, my doctor is top rated and even though the process wasn’t perfect, overall I had a good experience. I am so grateful.
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