Egg freezing in the UK

An overview of the key policy, social, and ethical issues around egg freezing and social egg freezing.

Reproduction, parenthood & familiesAssisted reproductionPregnancy

Key points

There is increasing interest in egg freezing in the UK.
The Government is considering whether storage limits for ‘social’ egg freezing should be changed from a maximum of ten years. There appear to be few arguments against increasing this limit.
The way ‘social’ egg freezing is presented and marketed is potentially of concern and should be the focus of closer attention.
‘Successful’ egg freezing can be measured in a variety of ways that can be difficult for women to navigate. There is a pressing need for available data on likely success rates to be presented clearly, accessibly, and transparently.
If more UK companies start to offer egg freezing as an employment benefit, women’s experiences of using such schemes should be a focus of research.