Health risks

All medical procedures come with some health risks. These are small for egg freezing but can be serious.

Short term

Less serious side-effects include medication/hormone related symptoms such as moodiness, hot flushes, and bloating.

Physical discomfort from blood tests and ultrasound scans may also be experienced. Some women feel more intense discomfort and require more time off work to recover than expected.

Serious complications from egg freezing are rare but can still happen. There is a very small risk of heavy bleeding (0.1%), infection (0.02%), and other health problems (0.02%) with each cycle (13).

Ovarian Hyper-Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS)

OHSS can arise from having an excessive response to hormone stimulation. Symptoms range from mild to severe.

Mild OHSS symptoms include (14):

  • Abdominal bloating and discomfort
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhoea
  • Feeling a little short of breath

Severe OHSS may require hospitalisation (14). The risk of death is extremely rare (1 in 30,000 cycles) (15). To date, no death relating to OHSS has been recorded in Australia.

The risk of moderate to severe OHSS is 0.16% per cycle (13), although it happens even less often in egg freezing patients.

It is important to speak to your fertility specialist about your chances of developing OHSS and what signs to look out for before beginning a cycle.

Risk factors for OHSS include (16):

  • A high follicle count before ovarian stimulation (e.g. more than 24 follicles)
  • A PMOS diagnosis
  • A history of OHSS
  • Higher than average AMH levels

The risk of OHSS will also depend on the type of hormones used for ovarian stimulation. Your fertility specialist will be able to manage this risk using specific medications.

For safety reasons, OHSS can lead to cycles being cancelled before eggs are collected. Your clinic should be monitoring you closely during your cycle and help you manage any side-effects if they occur.

Long term

There is limited research on the long term health of women who freeze their eggs. However, it is reassuring that IVF procedures (which are also used in egg freezing) are not shown to be harmful to women over time.

Children born from frozen eggs

The long term health of children born from frozen eggs is not yet known. However, their health at birth appears to be similar to children conceived naturally or with IVF (17-19). Also, long term research into the health and development of children born from ART more broadly shows they are similar to children who are naturally conceived (20, 21).

Impact of age

Having a baby at an older age can increase some health risks for both mother and baby. For more information, click here.

Will egg freezing reduce my natural fertility?

From what we know, egg freezing does not reduce a woman’s natural fertility. However, there is a very small risk of complications that come with egg freezing which can lower a person’s chances of having a baby in the future. See the information above.