Updated June 8, 2026

Many individuals want to have children someday. But what if you haven’t found the right partner, need more time to establish your career, want to accomplish other life goals or are facing a medical procedure that could impact your fertility? Pardis Hosseinzadeh, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist with the Johns Hopkins Fertility Center at Johns Hopkins Health Care & Surgery Center – Green Spring Station in Lutherville, Maryland, discusses the egg freezing (cryopreservation) process.

Egg Freezing 101 with Dr. Pardis Hosseinzadeh

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Who is a good candidate for freezing eggs?

Whether or not freezing eggs is a good option for you depends on a few different factors that you need to discuss with your doctor. Candidates for egg freezing can include:

• Individuals who want to delay pregnancy for personal, career, education or financial reasons 
• People undergoing medical treatments that may affect fertility, such as chemotherapy or radiation 
• Those with health conditions that can impact fertility, such as severe endometriosis or autoimmune diseases or conditions requiring gonadotoxic medications.
• Individuals planning gender-affirming medical treatment or surgery that could affect fertility 
• People with a family history of early menopause or decreased ovarian reserve 
• People undergoing ovarian surgery (e.g., endometrioma removal, ovarian cystectomy) that may affect future ovarian function. 
• Individuals with genetic conditions associated with premature ovarian insufficiency, such as certain chromosomal abnormalities or gene mutations.

Egg Freezing and Age

For many individuals, the biggest factor to consider is their “biological clock.” In medical terms, this means that the number of eggs you have and the quality of those eggs both decrease as you get older. Eventually you stop ovulating (releasing eggs from your ovaries for potential fertilization) when you reach menopause (commonly between 45 and 55 years). Age is the most important factor in successful egg freezing.

“Your egg supply starts to decline more rapidly around age 37,” says Hosseinzadeh. “By 43, 90% of a woman’s eggs are abnormal, which means they don’t have the potential for pregnancy.”

Those who freeze their eggs before age 40 have a greater likelihood of achieving pregnancy with those eggs in the future. But a reproductive endocrinologist (infertility specialist) can provide testing to see if you’re a good candidate. “Freezing eggs after the age of 42 is not typically recommended but may be considered on a case-by-case basis,” says Hosseinzadeh.

What is the process to freeze eggs?

While egg freezing is a multistep process, it’s a lot more straightforward than you may think. “It’s the exact same process as for in vitro fertilization,” says Hosseinzadeh. “The only difference is that after egg retrieval we store the eggs rather than fertilizing them.”

Here’s what you can expect:

1. You self-inject two to three hormone medications every day for 10–12 days. (A friend or partner can help with this if necessary.) This encourages a group of eggs to develop at the same time.
2. To track the development of the eggs during this period, you also have four to six pelvic ultrasounds and frequent bloodwork.
3. Once those eggs have matured, you undergo an ultrasound-guided surgical procedure to retrieve them. The outpatient procedure takes 20–30 minutes under anesthesia.
4. An embryologist (a person trained to examine eggs and embryos) will verify that the eggs are mature, which means they have the potential to become fertilized.

Side Effects of Egg Freezing

While side effects are common, they’re usually not severe and are a result of the natural elevation of hormone levels that occurs with ovary stimulation. These may include:

• Mood swings
• Hot flashes
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Bloating

After the retrieval procedure, some individuals may have:

• Bloating
• Cramping
• Mild pain

Where are eggs stored?

After eggs are harvested, they go through vitrification — a method of quickly putting eggs into a deep freeze. They’re stored in liquid nitrogen tanks in an embryology lab.

A good embryology lab has the following:

• Around-the-clock monitoring systems with alarms to ensure equipment is properly functioning and the correct temperature is maintained.
• Manual checking of temperatures.
• Embryologists who oversee lab operations and a lead embryologist with certification as a high-complexity clinical laboratory director.
• Certification by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, a government agency that regulates all laboratory testing.

What happens when you want to use the eggs?

When you’re ready to use the eggs, a group of them are thawed and fertilized with sperm from your partner or a donor. “We generally recommend intracytoplasmic sperm injection to fertilize eggs because we’ve found natural methods of fertilization aren’t as successful once the eggs have previously been frozen,” says Hosseinzadeh.

How long you can keep eggs frozen? 

Because egg freezing has only become widely used in the last decade, we do not yet know the exact upper limit for how long frozen eggs remain viable. “That said, we have extensive experience with frozen embryos,” Hosseinzadeh explains. “Pregnancies have been achieved from embryos that were frozen for more than 20 years. While we do not yet have the same duration of data for eggs, we expect them to behave similarly when stored under the same conditions.

How much does freezing eggs cost?

Since insurance coverage and fertility center fees vary, it’s best to check with your infertility specialist and your health insurance company about out-of-pocket expenses. The total cost generally covers:

• Medication
• Ultrasounds
• Bloodwork
• Egg retrieval procedure
• Egg freezing process
• Annual frozen egg storage fees

Help With Egg Freezing Fees

If you have a cancer diagnosis or other medical condition that affects fertility, you may be able to receive more financial coverage than you think.

“Some states require insurance companies to pay for fertility preservation when there’s a cancer diagnosis,” says Hosseinzadeh. “Also, there are grants available for cancer patients who need help covering the cost of egg freezing. Don’t assume it’s not an option for you — at least come in and talk to a fertility specialist about what’s possible in those circumstances.”

Medically reviewed by Pardis Hosseinzadeh, M.D., M.S.C.