A BBC documentary about social egg freezing has accused the UK fertility sector of misleading advertising.
'Egg Freezing and Me' presented analysis showing that, 41 percent of UK fertility clinics are insufficiently clear about a patient's chance of having a baby in the future as a result of freezing eggs, or about the full costs involved in doing so.
In response, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) issued a statement from its director of strategy and corporate affairs, Clare Ettinghausen, who said that egg freezing could 'widen reproductive choices but is not a guarantee of having a baby in the future'. She added that: 'Clinics must ensure anyone going through fertility treatment is given full information about the risks and long-term impact of any treatment they have, as well as full details of the costs involved.'
According to the HFEA, while the success rates of defrosting eggs for IVF can reach up to 95 percent, the actual chance of achieving a live birth does not exceed 30 percent – a figure lower than that of using fresh eggs. Their figures also show that demand for egg freezing continues to grow, with egg freezing cycles up from nearly 400 in 2011 to over 4000 in 2021.
The documentary included contributions from over 30 women about their experiences with egg freezing, including the emotional, financial, and physical challenges they faced, and the complexities of pursuing motherhood through IVF.
Vicki Vinton who froze her eggs for social reasons, told the BBC: 'I genuinely cannot afford it, but I see it as an investment in my future. You can keep making money, but you cannot keep making eggs.'
A recent study (see BioNews 1196) found that only four percent of single women who opted to freeze their eggs in their 30s, ended up using them to have a baby. Some used their frozen eggs and were unsuccessful, but the majority chose not to pursue fertility treatment, or were able to use fresh eggs.
Dr Catherine Hill, from Fertility Network UK, told the BBC: 'Egg freezing is absolutely not a fertility insurance policy. It offers that hope but it does not offer that guarantee.'
IVF and fertility services are unusual among medical services in the UK because the majority of patients are self-funding (except in Scotland). The documentary findings echo the report by the UK Competition and Markets Authority published in 2022, indicating that many clinics are not fully adhering to consumer law in terms of representing costs and success rates in relation to IVF (see BioNews 1160).
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