Egg Freezing is hard, very hard, emotionally and physically on the individual. Egg Freezing as a single female is even harder because you don’t have the support of a partner and in going through this process it is a reminder that you are alone. Egg Freezing as a single female and across boarders is that much harder again because you are dealing with double the number of medical professionals, you don’t have your network of friends and family around you all the time and you are juggling time zones, jetlag, cultures, expensive flight costs, travelling with injectable drugs and a whole heap more pot holes in the road. Don’t under estimate how difficult this process is going to be when you start and what you are going to have to go through physically and emotionally.
There are many things I wish I had known when I started my egg freezing journey. I have tried to capture some of these things to help all those thinking about freezing their eggs in the future, particularly those who are trying to do it across boarders. I will add to this list as I continue my journey*.
- Freeze your eggs in your late 20s it will be so much easier than in your late 30s or 40s. And if you can’t afford it (as most of us can’t in our 20s) then take out a loan! it is worth the investment.
- Sleep, Sleep, Sleep – early nights and rest as much as possible while you are doing the stimulation process. I found sleep gave my follicles valuable time to grow.
- Have absolutely NO expectations and if you have to have one expectation then it should be ‘expect the unexpected’!
- Stay positive but never get your hopes up, even when you think you are ‘home dry’ with the number of eggs you may collect one month, don’t take that for granted because there are always things that can and will go wrong and it can be devastating when they do, so try and take each day as it comes.
- Be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster and the minute you think you are on top of the world, be prepared for everything to change.
- You will feel like you are pregnant and that you are going slightly mad…you are not… crying is normal and everything you are feeling are the drugs, not you!
- Do not plan because when you do the opposite will happen. This was a terrible one for me as I am a planner in everything I do but with egg freezing there is no ability to plan anything and just go with the flow (refer to point 4 above!)
- Don’t let anyone tell you there is ‘nothing you can do’ or ‘its too late’. If I had listened I would have given up after my AMH test result came back.
- Know how long you want to try emotionally and financially and accept when it is time to write a different end to your story.
- Ask questions, you are entitled to know what is happening to your body and you often know your body better than anyone else after all you have lived with it all these years!
- Limit your exercise during stimulation. This was SO hard to do for someone like me as you feel constantly bloated, have food cravings, put on weight and all you want to do is work out to keep it off and feel better about yourself – resist this temptation. Light exercise is ok, but no hard runs or extreme workouts. Remember this process is a short period for what could be life changing opportunity.
- Try and keep your life as normal as possible during stimulation. I found if I stopped doing things and essentially put my life on ‘hold’ during the process the devastation of a failed cycle was far worse and actually I saw less success in the number of eggs I collected.
- Use a warm hot water bottle on your lower tummy towards the end of stimulation, it eases any cramps/aches you may be having and quite possibly helps this follicles and eggs grow.
- Sage Tea and Egyptian sweet potatoes apparently helps follicles grow (not sure I have seen the positive effects of this, but hey anything is worth a try if it helps!)
- Milk and protein. I don’t know if these help but I gave it a go and saw some of my follicles grow, who knows if they would have grown anyway but even if it is a mindset thing, its worth a try.
*Please Note: Everyone’s egg freezing journey is different, the above are only my observations that will hopefully help you while on your journey.