By Anna Collinson, Maryam Ahmed & Bella McShaneBBC News Women who freeze their eggs are being misled by some UK clinics about their chances of having a baby, a fertility charity says.The Fertility Network was reacting to BBC analysis that found 41% of clinics offering the service privately could be breaching advertising guidance.The watchdog which sets guidance says clinics “must not give false or misleading information”.It comes as a record number of people are freezing their eggs.The UK fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), also said it was concerned about the information given to those considering egg freezing.A successful pregnancy is not guaranteed by the procedure. Egg freezing for non-medical reasons, also known as social egg freezing, is an increasingly popular method for women to preserve their fertility in order to have children at a later date. The procedure is not normally available on the NHS unless you are having medical treatment which could affect your fertility, such as chemotherapy or gender-reassignment. There were more than 4,000 egg freezing procedures in the UK in 2021, compared with nearly 400 in 2011, according to HFEA.Egg Freezing and MeAnna Collinson explores the full story of egg freezing.Available now on BBC iPlayerWhen a person wants to have a baby, the frozen eggs can be defrosted and used in fertility treatments, such as IVF. No two cases are the same and there are many variables which can influence a patient’s chance of having a baby, such as their age, their health, how many eggs were successfully frozen and later thawed – plus the quality of the sperm.The BBC analysed the websites of the 78 fertility clinics that advertise private egg freezing in the UK. We found 32 websites (41%) didn’t make clear a patient’s chance of successfully having a baby in the future.Of that group, most of the websites were advertising successful thaw rates of 80-95% – a process where eggs are defrosted to be used in fertility treatments.But these clinics did not make clear that the chances of having a baby are dramatically lower because there are multiple stages of the process before an embryo is successfully implanted, through fertility treatments such as IVF. “I feel very angry for patients because they are being misled by this level of information,” said Dr Catherine Hill from charity, The Fertility Network. Few patients in the UK have come back to use their frozen eggs, but for those who do, the success rates are slightly lower than IVF using fresh eggs – which is about 20-30% per round depending on age. It could be as low as 5% for people in their 40s, according to HFEA. The BBC analysis also found that 31 of the clinics published defrost rates without stating how many patients the information was based on or specifying their sources.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the government watchdog, has guidance about the information which should appear on clinic websites. It says egg freezing is a “significant financial and emotional commitment” and patients must be “properly informed” about success rates and costs. The BBC spoke to more than 30 women who had undergone the procedure, as part of the documentary Egg Freezing and Me. They described it as expensive and invasive – but also empowering.Some of them felt that they had not been properly informed by clinics about the true costs of egg freezing or their chances of success. ‘I felt very alone’At 39, Natalie Thomas decided to freeze her eggs with a private fertility clinic but struggled to understand what her chances of having a baby were, based on the clinic’s information. “It was a journey that I felt very alone on and that I was the one that was driving it and was having to do a lot of research myself,” said Natalie, who is a science teacher with a background in statistics and data.Natalie later discovered on the fertility regulator’s website that the clinic she had chosen had lower success rates for pregnancy compared with the national average. “Had I known this information beforehand, I don’t think I would have frozen with that …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnBy Anna Collinson, Maryam Ahmed & Bella McShaneBBC News Women who freeze their eggs are being misled by some UK clinics about their chances of having a baby, a fertility charity says.The Fertility Network was reacting to BBC analysis that found 41% of clinics offering the service privately could be breaching advertising guidance.The watchdog which sets guidance says clinics “must not give false or misleading information”.It comes as a record number of people are freezing their eggs.The UK fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), also said it was concerned about the information given to those considering egg freezing.A successful pregnancy is not guaranteed by the procedure. Egg freezing for non-medical reasons, also known as social egg freezing, is an increasingly popular method for women to preserve their fertility in order to have children at a later date. The procedure is not normally available on the NHS unless you are having medical treatment which could affect your fertility, such as chemotherapy or gender-reassignment. There were more than 4,000 egg freezing procedures in the UK in 2021, compared with nearly 400 in 2011, according to HFEA.Egg Freezing and MeAnna Collinson explores the full story of egg freezing.Available now on BBC iPlayerWhen a person wants to have a baby, the frozen eggs can be defrosted and used in fertility treatments, such as IVF. No two cases are the same and there are many variables which can influence a patient’s chance of having a baby, such as their age, their health, how many eggs were successfully frozen and later thawed – plus the quality of the sperm.The BBC analysed the websites of the 78 fertility clinics that advertise private egg freezing in the UK. We found 32 websites (41%) didn’t make clear a patient’s chance of successfully having a baby in the future.Of that group, most of the websites were advertising successful thaw rates of 80-95% – a process where eggs are defrosted to be used in fertility treatments.But these clinics did not make clear that the chances of having a baby are dramatically lower because there are multiple stages of the process before an embryo is successfully implanted, through fertility treatments such as IVF. “I feel very angry for patients because they are being misled by this level of information,” said Dr Catherine Hill from charity, The Fertility Network. Few patients in the UK have come back to use their frozen eggs, but for those who do, the success rates are slightly lower than IVF using fresh eggs – which is about 20-30% per round depending on age. It could be as low as 5% for people in their 40s, according to HFEA. The BBC analysis also found that 31 of the clinics published defrost rates without stating how many patients the information was based on or specifying their sources.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the government watchdog, has guidance about the information which should appear on clinic websites. It says egg freezing is a “significant financial and emotional commitment” and patients must be “properly informed” about success rates and costs. The BBC spoke to more than 30 women who had undergone the procedure, as part of the documentary Egg Freezing and Me. They described it as expensive and invasive – but also empowering.Some of them felt that they had not been properly informed by clinics about the true costs of egg freezing or their chances of success. ‘I felt very alone’At 39, Natalie Thomas decided to freeze her eggs with a private fertility clinic but struggled to understand what her chances of having a baby were, based on the clinic’s information. “It was a journey that I felt very alone on and that I was the one that was driving it and was having to do a lot of research myself,” said Natalie, who is a science teacher with a background in statistics and data.Natalie later discovered on the fertility regulator’s website that the clinic she had chosen had lower success rates for pregnancy compared with the national average. “Had I known this information beforehand, I don’t think I would have frozen with that …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
