The main risk when undergoing hormone injections is what’s called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). It can range from mild to severe (abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea).
Severe cases are pretty rare, with only about 1 severe case in 1000 women in 2016, with rates continuing to fall annually. Women with high ovarian reserve are more at risk for this.
Side effects vary for everyone, but most people get similar symptoms as PMS (breast tenderness, constipation, tiredness, bloating, slightly moody).
Intense exercise (walking is cool)
Marijuana
Sex (you’ll be suuuper fertile)
Alcohol (doctors are actually divided on this, some say a little is okay)
You might feel bloated for a few days, but most people are back to work the next day.
You’ll want to wait until your next period (between 5-14 days) before returning to intense exercise or sex to let your ovaries heal and reduce swelling.
You can start drinking alcohol or taking marijuana one day post retrieval.
Unequivocally, egg freezing works best the earlier you do it. You could be as young as 23, and usually no older than 42.
It is really a numbers game, so as you age you’ll be looking at more cycles (and more $) to get enough eggs to result in a baby.
Some women wonder whether they should do it early, because they may not use the eggs later. In many ways, egg freezing is for present you - not only future you - as it lets you live more freely in both career and matters of the heart today!
If you're under 35 and have normal ovarian reserve, egg freezing is $9,500 flat in SF, LA, Chicago and $10,500 in NYC. Storage is $840 a year.
This includes:
- Egg count testing
- Consults and regular monitoring appointments
- Hormone medications
- Egg Retrieval (sedation included)
- Egg Freezing in the lab
Because this pricing includes the cost of your meds, it's the most affordable egg freezing in the US without compromising on quality.
Egg freezing at most places will be $12,000 to $18,000 all-in. Often they will give you a quote that does NOT include meds, unlike Lilia.
Elsewhere:
- Egg count testing: $500-$1000
- Consults and monitoring: $2000-$4000
- Hormone medications: $4000-$6000
- Egg Retrieval and Freezing: $4000-$8000
- Sedation: $500-$1000
- Egg Freezing in the lab: (included above)
Then, storage is $600 - $1,000 per year
With the clinic you freeze your eggs at. When you're ready to use them, you'll call up the clinic and they'll thaw them for you.
Yup. People do it all the time using Fedex. Every year, 1500-2500 egg samples are shipped across the US. That said, any time a human touches something, there’s a risk of it going wrong.
When you're ready to use your eggs, you can get them shipped to a local IVF clinic (using a specialized courier service with experience in egg shipping to minimize risk).
There, your eggs will be thawed, fertilized with sperm, genetically tested, and put in your uterus. This part would cost ~$7,500-$12,500+.
If you’re currently on the pill or patch, you’ll stop taking it for the month before egg freezing and during the ~14 days of your egg freezing cycle.
Following your egg retrieval, you’ll start taking it again after you get your period.
If you have an IUD, you can leave it in since it doesn’t prevent ovulation and doesn’t get in the way during retrieval.
Nope! Some women think long-term hormonal birth control use could “mess up” their fertility, but this isn’t true.
The best answer doctors can give right now is that birth control may decrease your fertility hormone testing levels temporarily
Depends on how severely you had it. Here’s what's recommended:
- Asymptomatic but tested positive: wait 4 weeks
- Respiratory symptoms, (not diabetic or immunocompromised): wait 6 weeks
- Respiratory symptoms, (have diabetes or immunocompromised): wait 8 weeks
- Hospitalized: wait 8 weeks
- Was in ICU: wait 12 weeks
