Egg freezing laws not fit for purpose and force women into 'heartbreaking' scenario of destroying eggs

The UK law on egg freezing is not fit for purpose and can force women into the “heartbreaking” scenario of having their frozen eggs destroyed, leading medical organisations have warned.

Egg freezing, a process which sees eggs gathered from a woman’s ovaries frozen and stored to be used at a later date in a bid to prolong fertility, has become radically more popular in recent years.

But the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the British Fertility Society (BFS) argue the current legislation, which only allows frozen eggs to be stored for 10 years, should be lengthened to give women greater choice over their lives.

Researchers say women who are not ready to have children when the decade-long limit comes to an end are left with the “difficult choice” of becoming a parent before they want to, racking up costs by relocating their eggs to a fertility clinic outside the UK, or making the “heartbreaking decision” to have the eggs destroyed altogether.

Experts argue in a report published by the RCOG that current laws are “restrictive” and the time limit “arbitrary” – noting eggs could not be stored effectively for longer than a decade when the now “out of date” Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act was implemented.

Melanie Davies, spokesperson for the RCOG, told The Independent the current system curtails women’s reproductive freedom.

Ms Davies, who is a consultant at University College Hospital, said: “When women have to destroy their eggs, there is a lot of emotion involved in having those very carefully made plans ruined and then the financial hit too. Women are really motivated when they freeze eggs.

“They think long and hard about this medical choice. It is costly. You do not do it lightly. It is not appropriate for women to be thwarted because the current legislation is not appropriate. Current laws are out of date with modern medical practice.”

The current process means if a woman freezes her eggs in her early twenties – the time at which she is most fertile – she must utilise the eggs by the time she is in her early thirties.

Researchers argue the 10-year cut off point could deter women from freezing their eggs in their twenties and lead to them doing so in their thirties despite their chances of successfully getting pregnant being lower.

Richard Anderson, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and the paper’s lead author, said: “Although the technology allows indefinite storage without deterioration, the current UK legal limit of 10 years for duration of elective egg freezing has no biological or medical basis and is against the interests of women wishing to freeze eggs at a younger, more effective age.

“Women should have the opportunity to manage their fertility and choose to have children at a time that is right for them.”

The Department of Health and Social Care launched a public consultation on whether to change the time limit on egg freezing earlier in February in the wake of concerns it was having a negative impact.

The number of women freezing their eggs has soared by 257 per cent in recent years, with 1,462 egg freezing cycles in 2017 compared with 410 in 2012.

Dr Jane Stewart, chair of the British Fertility Society, said: “The 10-year limit is arbitrary and can be extended for those people who froze eggs for medical reasons.

“As a sector, we want to offer all the support we can to our patients. Family planning is changing and many people choose to have children later in life. We wish to ensure that those who want to have a baby have the best possible chance of success.”

Only eggs that are stored for medical reasons can be preserved for longer – up to 55 years in total.

Adam Balen, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “Currently, the 10-year limit is too restrictive and not fit for purpose.

“It seems likely that the future will see increasing numbers of women storing eggs, mostly because they are not in a relationship, but there remains a need for societal changes that support women in the workplace to have their family at a biologically optimal age if they so choose without compromising their career prospects.

“There remains an increasing recognition of the need to improve public education about age-related changes in female fertility that should highlight the importance of men’s knowledge as well as women.”

Researchers called for women who choose to freeze their eggs to be “fully informed” of the likelihood of success, costs and risks – drawing attention to the fact that the latest data shows only 18 per cent of IVF treatments that utilised a woman’s own frozen eggs resulting in success.

Egg freezing for non-medical reasons can only be accessed through the private health sector and is costly.