Rise in women freezing their eggs at fertility clinics

There has been a huge rise in the number of British women freezing their eggs in private fertility clinics. But although many pay up to £6,000 for the initial harvesting - and then freezing - of their eggs, and a further £250 for an annual 'storage fee,' these women have just eight per cent chance of conceiving. According to new figures shown to the Sunday Times, just 21 babies were born out of 253 fertility cycles between 1991 and 2012. Fertility expert Lord Winston told Hannah Summers of the newspaper that by the age of 40, women's chances of having successful in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) are the same as her getting pregnant naturally. 'Egg freezing remains an experimental treatment which can only be justified when there is no alternative,' he said. 'There are innumerable clinics that will freeze your eggs for a handsome fee but the justification for this is highly dubious.' Celine Dion famously conceived twins in 2009 after having her eggs frozen for eight years Egg freezing has been available in the UK for more than a decade, though the treatment is still considered relatively new. Many people feel uncomfortable with the notion of women doing it for 'social' reasons, rather than medical conditions. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the 2,262 women who had 20,465 eggs frozen in the 1991 and 2012 time period, did so for social reasons, rather than medial ones. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is the statutory body that regulates fertility treatments including IVF and the storage of sperm and eggs. One of its responsibilities is to give advice and information to people seeking licensed treatment and to the general public. The Sunday Times also reported the latest data from HFEA said that 284 women froze their eggs in 2009. The figure rose to 580 in 2012. The singer, Celine Dion, famously froze her eggs for eight years in New York, before successfully conceiving in 2009 at the age of 41. Celine fell pregnant following her sixth IVF attempt and turning to acupuncture to improve her chances of conceiving. She gave birth to twin sons Eddy and Nelson in 2010 and called them her 'miracle' babies. In egg freezing, eggs can be stored for up to ten years in liquid nitrogen at 196 degrees centigrade - rather like a deep freeze. When a woman decides the time is right for a baby, the egg is thawed slowly which involves a carefully controlled drop in temperature before being warmed up again. After being injected with sperm, the egg is then inserted into her uterus - rather like a smear test. If the technique is successful, the patient then becomes pregnant as normal. Article: 20th April 2014 www.dailymail.co.uk