It’s no secret that women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) often struggle to become pregnant. In fact, up to 80% of women with PCOS will experience infertility due to high levels of androgens and other hormonal dysregulation. On top of that, there’s often pressure to conceive before 35 for the best chances of a healthy pregnancy, making it seem like time isn’t on our side. But here’s the good news: there are ways to support your body and improve fertility naturally, giving you more options and flexibility on your journey.
Modern medicine has provided lots of new options for women needing fertility support. One of those options is egg freezing! If you’ve ever been curious about the process, you’re in the right place. Today, we’re diving into how PCOS can impact fertility treatments and what you can do to prepare your body for egg retrieval and freezing. Let’s break it all down together!
How PCOS Affects Egg Freezing: What Every Future Mom Needs to Know
Egg freezing is a process where healthy eggs are retrieved, frozen, and safely stored for future use—giving women the option to pause the fertility clock. But what about Cysters? Is egg freezing the right choice if you have PCOS?
Here’s what you should know:
How Does Egg Freezing Work?
Egg freezing is a complex process! However, it can be a great way to preserve your opportunities of becoming pregnant, even if you aren’t planning to at this time. Before deciding if egg freezing is the right choice for you, it’s important to fully understand the process. After all, being informed is the first step in making the best decision for your fertility journey!
Here’s how egg freezing works:
Step-by-Step Process of Egg Freezing
- Step 1: Consultation – Your first step is meeting with a fertility specialist or reproductive endocrinologist for a deep dive into your fertility journey. This is your chance to ask questions, discuss your medical history and goals, and get a clear understanding of the egg freezing process.
- Step 2: Baseline Testing – To understand your full reproductive picture, you’ll get labs and ultrasounds done to check in on your hormonal balances, ovarian reserve, and overall reproductive health.
- Step 3: Hormone Injections – The doctors will stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs via hormone injections. This usually takes a couple of weeks.
- Step 4: Monitoring – Doctors will now monitor the growth and development of the eggs via blood tests and ultrasounds.
- Step 5: Receive Trigger Shot – Once the egg is the right size, you’ll get a shot of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) that’s often called a “trigger shot.” This preps the eggs for retrieval.
- Step 6: Egg Retrieval Procedure – 36 hours after the trigger shot, you’ll undergo a minor surgical procedure to retrieve the eggs. Doctors use a thin needle to collect the eggs.
- Step 7: Recovery – The procedure itself takes about 30 minutes, and most women can head home the same day. Some mild discomfort and light bleeding are normal, but recovery is usually quick!
- Step 8: Assessment of Eggs – The doctor will assess the eggs to determine their maturity and quality.
- Step 9: Vitrification (AKA Freezing) – The high-quality eggs are rapidly frozen using a process called vitrification, which helps preserve their viability by preventing ice crystal formation.
- Step 10: Storage – The frozen eggs are carefully stored in liquid nitrogen at extremely low temperatures to maintain their quality and viability for future use.
- Step 11: Thawing and Assessment – When you’re ready to use your eggs, doctors thaw the ones you want and re-assess for quality.
- Step 12: In Vitro Fertilization – Eggs are then fertilized and developed into embryos via in-vitro fertilization.
- Step 13: Embryo Transfer – Once the embryos are ready, they are transferred to your (or your surrogate’s) uterus!
Can Women With PCOS Freeze Their Eggs?
YES! Freezing eggs can be a really good option for women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)! First of all, Cysters often produce a higher number of eggs, making the chances of successful egg retrieval actually higher with PCOS. But, more than that, egg freezing can give you control over your fertility. No matter the circumstance, freezing your eggs can give you flexibility in the timing of your pregnancy.
Hormonal dysregulation, inflammation, and insulin resistance (the three core issues leading to a bulk of PCOS symptoms) can make conceiving, staying pregnant, and having a healthy pregnancy challenging. Women with PCOS often experience irregular menstrual cycles, anovulation, reduced egg quality, ovarian cysts, high blood pressure, difficulty managing blood sugar, and low progesterone levels, which are all less than ideal for pregnancy.
The good news is, there are natural ways to improve these root issues and symptoms to have a successful pregnancy with PCOS. However, if you’re still working on healing your body to boost your fertility, egg freezing is an option to increase your reproductive age window.
Curious about when you should get pregnant with PCOS? Here’s the ideal age for getting pregnant with PCOS.
How To Prepare For Egg Freezing When You Have PCOS
Start taking steps to improve your symptoms and heal your body.
First of all, if you’ve decided to start the egg retrieval process, congratulations! A great way to begin your journey is by taking steps to improve your reproductive health and heal your body. Because once you are ready to get pregnant, you’ll want your body to be in optimal health. Regulated hormones, increased insulin sensitivity, and reduced inflammation will help increase your chances of sustaining a healthy pregnancy!
Here are some lifestyle changes that can help you reverse your symptoms and get control over your PCOS:
– Change your diet:
A balanced diet can make all the difference when getting to the root issues of your PCOS symptoms. For PCOS I recommend you trying a gluten- and dairy-free anti-inflammatory diet for 30 days to see if this makes an impact on your symptoms and reducing inflammation. You can find recipes and meal plans on The Cysterhood app. To boost your fertility, here is a list of foods that I recommend!
– Exercise regularly:
Slow-weighted or meditative workouts can be a great tool for improving PCOS symptoms and reproductive health. You can also find PCOS-friendly workout routines on the app! Unlike high-intensity exercise, which can spike cortisol and disrupt hormones, strength training at a controlled pace helps regulate insulin, reduce inflammation, and improve blood flow to the ovaries. It also supports a healthy metabolism and minimizes stress on the body, creating an optimal environment for hormone regulation and reproductive health.
– Take fertility-boosting supplements:
Even with a strategic diet, it’s hard to get all the right vitamins and minerals to help your body thrive. To boost the effectiveness of all your fertility and healing efforts, I recommend high-quality, NSF-certified prenatal supplements like Purely Prenatal, which provides a pre-conception multivitamin for PCOS and coenzyme Q10 for egg quality.
– Get more sleep:
Sleep is essential for supporting a healthy metabolism, immune health, and adrenal system. Take steps to improve your sleep hygiene to get high-quality rest.
– Stay hydrated:
Drinking plenty of water can help improve hormone regulation, uterine health, and plenty of other PCOS and fertility symptoms!
Learn about the whole process of egg freezing.
Learning about the process and hearing real stories from women who’ve been through it can help you feel more prepared, both physically and emotionally. No matter where you are in your fertility journey, you deserve to feel informed, supported, and empowered every step of the way.
Meet with a fertility specialist.
I recommend seeing a fertility specialist for your next step! You’ll discuss things like your medical history, your PCOS symptoms, your long-term pregnancy plans, and more. The right specialist should really listen to you, answer all your questions, and make you feel hopeful about your journey!
Get labs done to establish a baseline and evaluate your ovarian reserve.
In order to establish a baseline and get a sense of your current health, your fertility specialist will have you undergo some testing. Blood tests will give you and your doctor vital information on your hormone levels while an ultrasound will assess your ovarian reserve. They may also do an X-ray to check the inside of your uterus and fallopian tubes for any problem areas. Here, you’ll find out what’s possible in your reproductive future!
Make a plan to financially cover the egg-freezing process.
It’s important to be aware that fertility treatments can be a big financial investment. Before diving in, it helps to have a game plan for covering costs so you can move forward with confidence. Check in on your employer benefits, explore your savings, and set a budget that aligns with your goals. Your specialist can walk you through the full breakdown, but expect costs to range from $10,000 to $15,000, plus an annual storage fee of $500 to $1,200 for your frozen eggs. Planning ahead can ease some of the stress, so you can focus on what truly matters—your fertility journey.
Start tracking your cycle the best you can.
To map the best times to do your egg retrieval process, start tracking your cycle. I know this can be difficult for some of us who are still trying to work with our PCOS to get our period cycles regular. However, as you make those lifestyle changes to heal your symptoms, your period is likely to become more regular. For more guidance, here’s how to track ovulation with irregular periods.
Prepare for hormone stimulation.
This next stage involves taking injections to encourage your ovaries to produce multiple eggs. To support your body through the process, now’s the time to double down on those key lifestyle shifts we talked about. Prioritize nourishing foods, stress reduction, and plenty of rest. It’s also a good idea to skip alcohol and follow any personalized recommendations from your doctor or fertility specialist. The more you support your body now, the better you’ll feel throughout your journey!
Monitor your side effects and report any concerning symptoms to your doctors.
If at any time in the process, you experience concerning symptoms, make sure you communicate that to your fertility specialist. It’s important that you stay in the best health possible, so any negative side effects need to be quickly addressed to keep you on track.
Additionally, it’s important you know that as a Cyster you’re at a higher risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), especially if you have high AMH levels or a large ovarian reserve. Essentially, this complication happens when your ovaries respond too strongly to the process, causing ovarian swelling, fluid leakage, abdominal pressure, weight gain, and hormonal imbalances.
In extreme cases, it can also affect kidney functioning and cardiovascular health.This is why it’s so important for us Cysters to find a healthcare provider who truly listens and understands the full picture of your PCOS journey. The right doctor will take all your symptoms into account and work with you to create a plan that supports your health and well-being. So if you needed a sign to seek another doctor…this is it!
Ensure you have a plan for post-op support.
Egg retrieval is a minor surgery, but it’s still a good idea to have someone to help you around the house for at least 24 hours post-op. You’ll be told to get rest and avoid any strenuous activity plus, you’ll be recovering from anesthesia, and it’s always a good idea to have someone monitor you after that. The process can also be an emotional process, so don’t hesitate to ask your loved ones to be there for you during this time.
Egg freezing is an option available for women with PCOS!
Egg freezing can offer peace of mind when it comes to your fertility. PCOS can be overwhelming, and the added stress of conceiving “right now” doesn’t help your reproductive health and overall PCOS journey. So, if you need more time before you’re ready physically, emotionally, or mentally to have a baby, egg freezing is a great option for women with PCOS!
For more on managing your PCOS and boosting fertility, check out the PCOS Weight Loss blog and the A Cyster and Her Mister podcast! We discuss everything from losing weight with PCOS to navigating birth control, all to help you through this whole process. We can do this together!