The Single Girl's Guide To Egg Freezing

By EggFreezingSuccess Effsie

Are you worried that your clock is ticking and you've not met the right person yet, you don't relish being a single mum and your life circumstances now are not ideal for having a child?

This is my account of what I did as a newly-single 37 year-old. I knew precious little about my fertility and my options at the beginning and I gathered a huge body of knowledge (and life lessons) during what became a 10-month quest. I want to share it all with you, so that you can get a headstart and begin your journey from a more informed place.

And if you are simply curious, by reading "The SIngle Girl's Guide To Egg Freezing", you will be able to experience the highs and lows alongside me and decide whether this is an avenue you would like to explore in the future.

Factual information includes: when does female fertility decline; how to get your fertility tested; what to do if the test results are discouraging; for UK citizens - whether to use the NHS; finding the right clinic; looking at cheaper clinics overseas; what does the procedure involve; how to give yourself injections; preparing your body nutritionally beforehand; detoxing afterwards; and of course, a detailed account of my own treatment and recovery.

Special features include: A resource guide (reading and website recommendations, clinics, info, events, forums and more); Summary: 12 steps to follow if you want to egg freeze; and frequently asked questions.

Why am I publishing this? Because I want us all to be empowered women making choices from an informed place. Because I needed a resource like this when I was on my quest. Because if my journey can in some way illuminate yours, that will be an honour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EggFreezingSuccess Effsie
• Release date: Mar 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466024526

Book preview

THE SINGLE GIRL'S GUIDE TO EGG FREEZING

By Effsie

Published For Smashwords by Effsie

Copyright Effsie 2011

Cover Design by Effsie

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

THE SINGLE GIRL'S GUIDE TO EGG FREEZING

REASONS NOT TO USE THE NHS

ENTERING THE DARK MONTHS

A SMIDGEN OF HOPE

IMPASSE

CHANGE OF COURSE

STRIKING GOLD

STARTING TREATMENT

DAY EIGHT

SATURDAY NIGHT

RETRIEVAL DAY MINUS ONE

LAST STEP ON THE JOURNEY

THANK YOU TO THE DOC

POSTSCRIPT

SUMMARY

RESOURCES

FAQs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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THE SINGLE GIRL'S GUIDE TO EGG FREEZING

I remember the day I first hear about egg freezing. I am 33 and a good friend, seven years my senior, is visiting. She has just started IVF (in-vitro fertilisation). She takes a deep breath, sighs, fixes me with her eyes and says: If I was your age, I would freeze my eggs. After a few moments of gobsmacked silence on my part, I ask my friend what is involved. She tells me that it is the same process as IVF, except that you do not get the egg fertilised or put back into you. When she mentions injections, hormones, blood tests and general anaesthetics, the squeamish part of me and the part of me that doesn't believe in meddling with the body decides: No thank you. I am young still, and meeting someone is my priority, I am sure that things will work themselves out naturally.

In the four years to follow, two Mr Could-Have-Been-The-Ones enter my life. We have discussions about families and futures - but things do not pan out. At age 37 and three-quarters and newly single, an out-of-town friend gets in touch to say that she is coming to London for a day trip. This friend is in her early 40s and serious about having a baby, to the point that she will become a single mum, if the right partner does not come along soon. She mentions that she is going to be at The Fertility Show in Earls Court until 6pm to investigate her options, and suggests that we meet for coffee nearby after that. Tell you what, I say, I'm not getting any younger - I think I'm going to come with you.

It is nerve-wracking walking into the exhibition space at Earls Court on that November morning because I am admitting something - namely that I am a single woman, approaching her fertility sell-by date and I want a family and a man and I have neither. I am praying that I do not bump into anyone I recognise here. Thankfully, the organisers are very discreet - there are no identifying name badges to wear and as I sit down to my first seminar, I realise that I knew next to nothing about fertility. As the day moves on, not only do I become relaxed and chatty with whoever is around me, I become empowered and informed. I have traded in the stigma I felt about being here for an excitement for the possibilities ahead.

I learn that after age 35, fertility takes a huge dip and by the early 40s it is next to non-existent. On the graph the presenter is holding up, 38, my upcoming birthday, is shown as another point at which fertility sinks ever lower. That is when I get my a-ha moment - I want to egg freeze! I zoom from stallholder to stallholder at the exhibition to ask about egg freezing, embryo freezing, sperm donors, adoption, you name it. I know that I do not want a baby at that present moment, but I want the option of being a mother in the future. I leave with flushed cheeks and an action plan. I am going to get my fertility tested on the NHS, the UK's free nationalised health system, and if the results are promising, I will start taking folic acid (that's what you're meant to do if you're preparing for a baby, right?) and after three months of taking it (I think that's how long you're meant to take it for), I will have my eggs frozen and divide the batch in half, so that half will be eggs on their own and half will be fertilised with donor sperm. One of the exhibitors advised this as the success rates are higher with frozen embryos.

This plan means putting my life on hold for three months, but I am happy to do so for the long-term gain. In a Shirley Valentine moment, I decide to go