Sometimes life feels like a revolving door of choices.

What should you eat? What should you wear? What should you do? Day in and day out, your days are a continuous blur of decision-making. Why should your journey to conceive be any different?

• Choosing to use an egg donor is hard enough, but making the decision between fresh and frozen can be even more confusing. Questions about options often can consume one’s thoughts. Do all egg donors undergo a rigorous screening process?
• Are fresh cycles more successful than frozen?
• Will a frozen donor egg cycle take as long as fresh?

There are many factors to consider and it’s important to gain an understanding of the general differences between fresh and frozen eggs before making any kind of decision.

Choosing an Egg Donor

Regardless of your decision on whether you’re using frozen and fresh donor eggs, you’ll eventually have to choose a donor.

Finding the ‘right’ egg donor is one of the most significant differences between fresh and frozen cycles. When someone uses a fresh donor, there are many more obstacles to overcome. Not only will they have to select a person who fits their wants and needs, but they’ll also need someone who lives close to them.

In a fresh donor egg cycle, the reproductive cycles of the donor and recipient must be synched. This step ensures that when the donor is ready for the egg collection procedure, the recipient’s body is equally prepared to receive the fertilized embryo.

However, with frozen donor egg cycles since the donor has already undergone screening and have had her eggs collected, hopeful parents don’t have to be concerned with finding a donor who lives close to them. Instead, potential parents have access to a database of donors, and thus more choice in picking the donor that is their perfect fit. Furthermore, since the donor’s eggs are already ready for fertilization, all you have to worry about is your own cycle (if applicable) and timeline.

Is Frozen Donor Egg IVF Cheaper than Fresh?

A reality of infertility treatments is they can cost a small fortune. For some individuals, by the time they find their way to egg donation, they may have already spent tens of thousands on other options like IUI and traditional IVF.

In a comparison of fresh and frozen donor egg IVF, frozen cycles are significantly cheaper than their alternative.

In fresh cycles, not only do you have to cover medical costs for yourself (or your surrogate) and the donor, but you’re also required to pay fees like:

• Travel costs
• Hotel
• Lost wages
• Medications

In total, a fresh donor egg IVF cycle usually costs between $30-40K.While, a frozen cycle is only $15-21K.

Many people worry about the quality of frozen donor eggs. However, it’s comforting to know their quality has vastly improved over the past several years.

A flash-freezing technique known as vitrification helps protect the integrity of the eggs after their collection and prevents ice crystal formation during freezing and storage. When a frozen donor egg thaws, it will be in the same state it was immediately after retrieval.

Finding Success with Donor Egg IVF

It’s a common misconception that fresh donor eggs are better than frozen. In reality, the two options now share nearly identical success rates.

Some may even say frozen donor egg IVF is slightly better. After all, when frozen egg donation occurs, only the highest quality eggs are saved for freezing.

Fresh cycles also come with a higher risk of failure. Attempting to synchronize the cycles of two women can be difficult. Many factors can – and often do – cause the cancellation of an IVF round. Donors can get sick or have time constraints, which cause them to miss vital appointments. Doctors also see cases where donors don’t take their stimulation drugs correctly, which leads to poor results.

However, frozen donations make the process easier. The eggs ha-e already been screened, collected, and stored. They are merely waiting for your family to choose them.

Becoming a Family with Egg Donation

Whichever type of cycle you choose, the reward will be well-worth any hard decision making along the way. Explore your options and figure out what kind of donor egg treatment is right for you and your family. With that in mind, it’s safe to say many individuals and couples find frozen donor eggs to be their ideal solution. They are a simple, budget-friendly, and reliable option for growing families.

When you’ve already put so much into having a child, don’t settle for less than the best. Frozen egg donation may be the answer you’ve been searching for.