Egg Retrieval Calculator
We get these questions a lot:
The number of eggs you freeze depends on your age, hormonal levels and your desired number of children or family size. For instance, if you’re under 35, then freezing about 15 eggs provides an 85% chance of a live birth. Over 35, you may aim for 10-12, possibly over multiple cycles. Ultimately, a realistic number of eggs for your situation can vary, and it’s best to discuss the same with your healthcare provider.
Even though our egg retrieval calculator provides an estimate based on averages, other factors affect the outcome of an egg-freezing cycle, such as:
- Egg quality: Age significantly determines the quality of your eggs. You are likely to have genetically healthier eggs in your early, mid-20s until your early 30s. Egg quality naturally declines with age.
- AMH, and AFC: Your Anti-Mullerian hormone levels and Antral follicle count influence the number of eggs you may retrieve in one cycle.
- Response to hormonal medication: Hormonal medication during an egg-freezing cycle influences the number of follicles grown and eggs retrieved. Your response to these medications determines the number of eggs that grow. Lower responses may indicate a need for modified protocols.
- Clinic success rates: It’s essential to choose a vetted fertility clinic as their expertise in egg freezing, handling, and thawing also affects your cycle success rates.
- Lifestyle habits: Excessive drinking or smoking can affect egg quality, so it’s best to abstain from them to safeguard egg quality.
Embryologists select mature eggs for freezing on the egg retrieval day. There are three stages that eggs have:
1. Germinal vesicle (the baby phase)
2. Metaphase I (the teenager phase)
3. Metaphase II (the adult phase)
Of these, metaphase II is the mature stage and can be identified as a cell with a polar body out (a tiny mass in the outer layer of the egg cell).
The eggs reach the lab in tubes of follicular fluid. These are poured in petri dishes, and observed under a microscope. The cumulus cells surrounding the egg are removed to observe the maturity clearly and are frozen on the same day. Eggs in the germinal vesicle stage and Metaphase I stage are not frozen due to their low survival rates with vitrification.
The number of follicles that grow during your egg-freezing cycle is not the same as the number of eggs retrieved. Follicles grow in response to hormonal medication, but only ones that reach a size of 16-22mm are most likely to have mature eggs (Again, there’s no 100% guarantee, as eggs may be immature as well). For instance, we could have 10 follicles growing, 7 reaching the mature size, and end up with 5-6 mature eggs.
The egg retrieval calculator provides an estimate based on averages. Here’s how to use it:
1. Enter the age you’d like to freeze your eggs at/ frozen it at .
2. Input your most recent AMH results.
3. For greater accuracy, ensure the age you've entered matches the age when the AMH test was taken.
4. The result generated should be able to tell you an estimate of the number of eggs you’ll retrieve based on your AMH.
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